


Just The Way Things Are

by snarfette



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Police, Prostitution, Rape/Non-con Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-10 22:11:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarfette/pseuds/snarfette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life rarely goes according to plan. Louis, a prostitute since the age of 17, is well-aware of that fact but a totally unpredicted encounter with a detective might just steer Louis’ life onto a course that he never could have expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any person mentioned in this story. I am not making any money from the writing of this story. This has obviously never happened and clearly it never will; it’s all make-believe. 
> 
> This is my first Liam/Louis fic so I'm a little nervous about it. I hope you like the beginning.

Louis leant back against the wall and smoothed out his t-shirt. It had been a fairly quiet night so far; a few of his regulars had been by but, other than that, it was going slowly. He looked down the street and watched as a car pulled up in front of a woman. After a brief exchange, the woman slipped into the passenger seat and the car disappeared from sight. ‘ _At least someone’s getting some business_ ,’ he thought to himself as he turned to look the other way. 

In truth he was bored, he hated nights like this. Time always went quicker when he was busy; standing around like this was a waste of time, not only that but it sure as hell wasn’t going to pay the rent. The last thing Louis wanted was to end up back on the streets. 

A few years ago he had met a friendly and generous guy who had offered him the second bedroom in his small, run-down flat. Louis had jumped at the opportunity and moved in, not particularly bothered what condition the place was in, just eternally grateful to be off the streets. Years later, he still lived in the same place and worked alongside his best friend and room-mate Harry. 

Harry had been gone with one of his regular johns for a long time, which was nothing unusual, and Louis considered moving on from his current spot to try elsewhere. He blew out a long sigh before pushing away from the wall. As he stepped forwards, a silver car turned onto the street and began slowly making its way towards where Louis was standing. It wasn’t a car that Louis recognised but that wasn’t a problem, he was open to any business right now. The car slowed to a halt slightly further down the street and Louis knew that it was show time again. He began a steady, confident walk towards the car. Every move was deliberate. There was no room for hesitancy in this situation. He glanced at his reflection in a window as he passed the buildings, checking that he wasn’t too tousled from his previous encounters that evening. If this was a new ‘client’, it was particularly important to make a lasting impression; a new client always had the potential to become a regular customer. He was satisfied with his brief inspection of his appearance. His brown hair was swept to the side in soft waves; it was remarkably neat considering there had been hands twisted in it not long before. He was wearing a white short sleeved t-shirt underneath his favourite denim jacket. Tight, dark-charcoal jeans wrapped around his legs and fitted perfectly to his arse. He was confident that he looked good, he was confident that he could satisfy whoever was waiting in the silver car.        

As Louis approached the car he saw that the window was already wound down. Louis plastered his trademark, ‘you-know-you-want-to-screw-me’ face on. He laid his arm across the roof of the car and leant down to speak to the man inside, but before he could begin he stumbled over his words as he locked eyes with the stranger. 

The man wasn’t what Louis had been expecting. He was not the usual type of customer that Louis was used to. He was well-built - toned and muscular; he had short brown hair that was nicely styled, brown eyes, tattoos running up his arm, well as far as Louis could see, and he must have been about the same age as Louis. If Louis was honest the guy was gorgeous, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that, if he didn’t speak soon the man would pass him by and take his business elsewhere. 

The man looked at him expectantly. Louis quickly recovered himself.

“Looking for something?” he asked with mock innocence. 

The man nodded, “You look like just the sort of guy who can help me out.”

Louis smiled confidently, then stood up straight and walked to the passenger door and slid into the car. The whole time he was thinking to himself that his night had certainly picked up. This guy was not like his usual customers who were typically unattractive older men. Sure they usually treated him fairly well, or as well as he thought he deserved, but to get picked up by someone as good looking as this was unheard of. For a moment Louis wondered why this man needed to come looking for hookers in the first place, but he didn’t allow himself to give it too much thought. It wasn’t for him to try to understand, or even care about, the reasons why men came to him. He needed money to survive, his customers paid him – it was simple.

The car pulled away from the kerb as Louis settled into the passenger seat and cast a sideways glance over his new client. He really was very attractive. His eyes never strayed towards his passenger as he drove in silence. Louis decided to break the ice, “So, do you know where we’re headed?”

The man’s eyes flicked towards him for a moment, “There’s a car park a little further along.”

Louis nodded in understanding, he knew the place well. He had been there many times before, it was perfect for conducting the type of business he had to carry out; poorly lit and practically deserted at this time of night. 

Within minutes they pulled into the car park and the stranger parked the car in the far corner. His hands remained tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as he glanced at Louis. ‘ _Large hands_ ,’ Louis noted as he looked at the man once more. Something about him didn’t seem right though; he looked apprehensive. 

“Have you ever done this before?” Louis asked. He was pretty sure that he knew the answer already but was expecting to be told some cocky story.

The man turned to look at Louis, “Actually, no.”

‘ _No, bullshit_ ,’ Louis thought to himself, ‘ _That’s a first.’_

“Well it’s twenty quid for a hand-job, fifty for a blow-job and a hundred will get you anything else you want,” he smiled sweetly as he reeled off the list, “So what’ll it be?”

The guy’s hands were still holding onto the steering wheel as he swallowed thickly. Louis wasn’t exactly the patient type and he didn’t have all night to sit here waiting for this man to make his mind up. He leant closer to the guy and smiled suggestively, then he whispered huskily, “How about I suck you off?”

The man nodded as his hands finally fell away from the steering wheel.

“I need to see the cash first,” Louis told him bluntly. The man reached into his jeans pocket and produced the notes, he threw them onto the dashboard and then looked at Louis in anticipation. Louis smiled and leant further towards him. He reached forwards and palmed the bulge at the man’s crotch, then moved his hand up to pop the buttons on his jeans. His customer was wide eyed as Louis made quick work of the fastenings. Just as Louis’ hand was about to disappear beneath the waistband of the man’s underwear, bright lights lit up the car and men in uniforms appeared at either side of the vehicle. 

“Fuck!” Louis swore as he retracted his hand and sat back in his seat. He looked at the man beside him, “Hard luck mate, getting busted on your first time.” 

The car doors were opened and both Louis and the stranger were hauled out. Louis rolled his eyes at the police officer who began giving him the usual spiel. He glanced at his would-be customer, hands spread out against his car as the cops frisked him. ‘ _Pity_ ,’ he thought, ‘ _I could have used another regular and I wouldn’t have minded him at all, he’ll be permanently frightened away now_.’ Louis cursed his bad luck as he was guided towards a waiting police car, tucked into the back seat and driven away from the scene.  

***

The police officer sighed in frustration as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. He leant forward across the desk, “If you don’t co-operate you’ll be spending the night in a cell.”

Louis smiled back at the officer as he stretched his arms above his head. He wasn’t feeling in a particularly helpful mood. He had been dragged away from a guaranteed fifty pounds and was now losing out on any other business that might have come his way because he was sitting in a police interview room. Not only that, but this cop had been talking to him like something he had wiped off the bottom of his shoe since he had arrived so he didn’t feel much like co-operating. His casual position on the plastic chair he occupied didn’t reflect how pissed off he truly was. His legs were stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles as he slouched backwards. In truth, he didn’t want to spend the rest of the night and possibly the next day in police custody but it might just be worth it to irritate the balding officer who was sitting opposite him. 

“We’ll try again. Name?” the cop asked with thinly-veiled annoyance. 

Louis raised his eyebrow as though he was thinking, “Flintstone. Fred Flintstone.”

The cop almost growled in annoyance, “I don’t suppose _you_ have a fixed abode?” 

That pissed Louis off even more. Did he look like he lived on the streets? He’d been there, done that and he knew he had looked a hell of a lot worse when he did. Why did people like this dickhead always assume the worst? 

The cop had started off on the wrong foot with Louis when he had immediately asked him what drugs he had taken in the last 24 hours. Just because he was a hooker it didn’t automatically make him a junkie. Louis had decided in that moment that he was going to make the interview as awkward as possible just to teach the pig a lesson. He was about to retort and tell the cop what he thought of him when the door to the interview room opened and the man from the silver car stepped into the room. He looked different now; the casual outfit was gone, replaced by a well-fitting suit, waistcoat, shirt and tie combo. 

“I’ll take it from here thanks Carter,” he said as he held the door open for the rather relieved looking cop to make his exit. 

Louis shook his head and chuckled dryly as the man sat down opposite him, “I should have known. Guys like you don’t go looking for hookers.”

The man raised his eyebrows before speaking, “I’m Detective Liam Payne, I work on the Vice team.”

“Of course you are,” Louis responded, “And you’re here to play ‘good cop’ I assume seeing as your pal was doing such a shitty job being ‘bad cop’.”

“I’m not here to _play_ anything. We brought you in because we hoped that you would give us some information. Clearly from your interaction with my colleague you’re not in the mood to help, so I’d say that this was a waste of your time and mine. We need to fill in some paperwork with a few of your details to process your ‘visit’ here and then you’re free to go,” the detective told him. 

Louis eyed him slightly suspiciously but decided that this cop was a lot better than the one that had been sitting opposite him previously. “Just one question,” he said, “Why did you get ‘arrested’ when the cops came? Why put on a show like that?”

“You never know who is watching, we had to make it look realistic so that no-one else would know that it was a set-up,” Detective Payne replied. 

Louis nodded, then bluntly said, “Louis Tomlinson.” The detective began writing the information that Louis provided on a form and within minutes the task was done. 

“Thank you Louis,” he said, “You’re free to go.” He stood up and began to walk towards the door.

“Wait,” Louis called out, “What information were you interested in?”

“It doesn’t matter now, I’m sure we’ll find someone who is willing to help us,” the detective replied. Again he turned to leave the room. He held the door open as Louis stood up and made his way towards the exit. 

Just as Louis passed him he stopped and spoke again, “Detective Payne, a couple of tips for you. If you want a hooker to help you, don’t arrest them. And if you’re planning on using cops to pose as johns, I’d let the likes of Officer Carter do it next time. You’re not exactly the usual type of customer we get out there.”

The detective looked a little puzzled, “I managed to fool you.”

“Maybe I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe I believed what I wanted to,” Louis replied with the slightest smile.

Detective Payne smiled briefly at his comment before he nodded at him and walked down the corridor away from Louis.           

***

A few evenings after his arrest, Louis had all but forgotten about the experience. It wasn’t the first time that he had been taken to the police station and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. He had bitched and moaned about the whole experience to Harry and warned his friend about the possibility of police officers posing as johns, before pushing the event to the back of his mind and carrying on with his routine as normal.

As he and Harry were leaving their flat one evening on their way to work, something caught his eye. A silver car parked across the street; a silver car that he recognised immediately. He told Harry to go on without him and that he would catch him up before he crossed the road and headed straight for the vehicle. As he approached the car, the driver’s door opened and Detective Payne stepped out. 

Louis raised his eyebrow at him before he leant against the front of the car. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said flippantly, “You’ll get a reputation if you keep hanging around places like this.”

Detective Payne shrugged his shoulders slightly, “I’m actually taking your advice.”

Louis’ face scrunched in confusion, “So you’ve sent your butt ugly partner out to pick up a hooker?”

The detective laughed slightly, “I assume you’re talking about Carter, seeing as you and he hit it off so well the other night. Well he’s not my partner and no he’s not out cruising for prostitutes. I was actually talking about your other piece of advice.”

Louis looked at him blankly, so he continued, “About not arresting people if I wanted help from them.”

The memory of their conversation came back to Louis and he nodded in understanding, “So, that brings you here because…”

“I wondered how you might feel about helping this time seeing as you’re not down at the station,” Detective Payne filled in for him. 

Louis narrowed his eyes at him, “What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch. I need information from someone that is part of this world. You suggested that I was going about it in the wrong way so here I am. I’m not trying to trick you. I just want to talk to you and ask you some questions. If you’re not interested I’ll try to find someone else,” Detective Payne told him. 

Louis considered what he had heard for a moment, “Would I have to come down to the police station?”

“No, I wouldn’t expect you to do that. I can imagine that that would seem like walking into the lion’s den for you. We could meet somewhere else, away from this immediate area though for obvious reasons,” Detective Payne said. 

Louis looked away from the police officer and stared down the street for a while as he thought about what to do. He usually avoided the police at all costs. Most of the cops he had encountered were ignorant bastards that assumed the worst. He wouldn’t normally have even considered helping them, but something about this detective seemed different somehow. For some reason that Louis couldn’t quite place he felt like this cop wasn’t feeding him any bullshit and wasn’t looking down his nose at him. 

“Fine, I’ll answer some questions for you,” Louis finally said as he turned back. 

Detective Payne couldn’t hide the look of surprise on his face, but he continued quickly, “That’s great, how about tomorrow? Do you know a place called Paul’s? The coffee shop? It would be a good place for us to meet away from here.”

“I know it,” Louis replied, “We better make it late afternoon though; I do work nights after all.”

“Does four suit you?” Detective Payne asked.

“Sure, that’ll be fine,” Louis said as he pushed away from the car and began walking away from the officer.

“4 o’clock then,” Detective Payne called, “Thank you Louis.”

Louis smiled to himself and fought the urge to turn back and look at the cop again. He didn’t understand it but he was actually looking forward to meeting up with him tomorrow.   

***

4 o’clock arrived and Detective Payne waited patiently at a table at the coffee shop. He was pretty sure that Louis wouldn’t show up, but he was hoping that he would be proved wrong. He had told himself that Louis probably just arranged to meet him to get him to leave but a small part of him was trying to keep positive. This was the most progress he had made in a long time; he had to be grateful for that. 

Minutes dragged by and he was on his second cup of tea when the door opened and Louis sauntered into the shop. His eyes scanned the place and he made his way towards the table. He clearly wasn’t in a hurry even though he was fifteen minutes late. He slipped into the seat opposite Detective Payne and looked at him expectantly.

“I really appreciate you doing this Louis,” Detective Payne said.

Louis slipped off his jacket, “I bet you thought I wasn’t going to show, didn’t you?”

“Actually, you’re right,” Detective Payne replied, “But I’m glad you came.”

Before any other conversation could be started a waitress appeared. She took their order for two teas and left them alone again. 

“So what am I actually doing here?” Louis asked, secretly thinking that the question had a much deeper meaning for him.

“I’ve told you that I want to get some information. I know that the best way to do that isn’t hauling people down to the station. I want to talk to you informally, that’s why I didn’t want you to come to the police station. I know you wouldn’t be comfortable there,” the detective told him. 

“Well, Detective Payne, you can ask your questions but I’m not promising to answer any of them,” Louis replied. 

“Anything you can give me will be a start I’m sure. Seeing as we’re doing this informally, you can call me Liam. We may as well be on first name terms, unless that makes you uncomfortable,” Detective Payne said. 

The shock of what he had said obviously showed on Louis’ face and Liam actually laughed slightly at the reaction, “I just thought seeing as I was calling you by your first name that you might as well do the same. Unless you want me to call you Mr. Tomlinson?”

A sudden change seemed to come over Louis; his face darkened and he looked down at the table. Liam wondered if he had crossed some invisible line that he hadn’t realised was there and feared that Louis would get up and leave. He didn’t know why his comment had caused the reaction it had but he hoped that it wouldn’t have ruined his first good lead in months. Fortunately, the awkward silence that followed was interrupted by the waitress bringing them their tea. 

“Thank you Helen,” Liam said as the woman placed the cups down on the table. 

“You’re welcome Liam,” she smiled as she turned and left them to it. 

When Liam looked back at the man opposite him, he saw that Louis was no longer looking at the table; instead he was studying the detective closely.

“Do you come in here often?” Louis asked.

“Fairly regularly,” Liam replied, “It’s quiet, out of the way, I like the décor.”

Louis didn’t smile at Liam’s attempt at humour, he just continued to look at him for a moment before he said, “So what do you want to know?”

Slightly confused by the sudden jump in conversation, Liam realised that he was going to have to keep up with the tangents that Louis seemed to go off on. “Do you work for a pimp?” he asked.

The look of distaste that passed over Louis’ face was enough of an answer for Liam, but Louis spoke anyway, “No way. I work for me and me alone. I don’t need some sleazy pimp telling me when and where I work, beating me up if I step out of line, then taking my money. Besides, if I did, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

“But I assume you know of the pimps that work the local area,” Liam continued.

Again Louis pulled a face, “Of course I know them, although I try to stay off their radar to be honest.”

Liam didn’t speak, he just nodded his head to encourage Louis to continue. “They don’t like competition. There’s a lot of trouble between them. It’s best to stay out of their way. Some of them have tried to ‘recruit’ us before, but we told them we weren’t interested. I thought we’d have to leave town because they weren’t exactly impressed by that but they’ve mostly left us alone since then. They come sniffing around every so often but I think we’re alright as long as we’re not on the patch that they have hookers working.”

Liam nodded again, “Who’s ‘we’?” he asked as he took a sip from his tea.

Louis looked at him steadily, as though he was trying to decide if he could really trust this police officer. He made up his mind, “My room-mate, Harry, and me. We work together. Where’s this leading anyway? You obviously know who the main pimps are and I don’t work for any of them so how is this going to help you?”

“We know that the money pimps make from prostitution is used in the illegal drugs trade. We have a few main suspects, but we’re struggling to pin anything on them. We need inside information. Do you think any of the prostitutes that work for them would be willing to talk?” Liam said.

“To _you_?” Louis blurted out, “No way. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to end up dead in an alley.” 

Liam knew that what Louis said was true, “They might talk to you though. That’s what I need; someone that can get them to open up a bit. Do you think you could get anything from them?”

Louis considered this for a long time. He traced a pattern on the table-top with his finger as he thought. His mind kept screaming at him, ‘ _What are you even doing here? You’re sitting having a cup of tea with a cop like it’s normal! It’s not normal! He’s a cop, you’re a hooker, walk away now.’_ But something inside of him was desperate to know where this was going to end up. Something was telling him that it was the right thing to do and that if he didn’t do it he would spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been. 

Liam sat and watched patiently. He didn’t want to put too much pressure on. He knew that he was asking a lot from Louis.

Suddenly Louis spoke up, “What do I get out of all of this?”

Liam blew out a long breath as he tried to think of the best way to answer, “You get the knowledge that you’ve done the right thing. You’d be helping to prevent the trade of illegal drugs that ruin so many people’s lives – at least for a little while. You’d be helping to lock up some of those ‘sleazy pimps’ that you talked about before,” Liam trailed off for a moment, then suddenly added, “And I’ll make sure you have all the tea you want when we meet up.” He smiled at Louis hopefully.

The little list of reasons weren’t really what made Louis’ mind up for him. It was the fact that Liam hadn’t offered to pay him, well except in tea. Louis had spent so long being a prostitute that it was all he knew. Everyone judged him and knew that his services came at a price. For the first time in years someone was asking him for something and not really offering him anything in return. Liam was different from every other cop he had ever encountered because Liam didn’t treat him like a hooker.

A small smile twitched at the corners of Louis’ mouth as he looked at Liam steadily, “I’ll do it,” he said simply. The small smile on his face threatened to become a full blown grin when he saw the look of elation on the detective’s face. 

Liam reached into his jacket and pulled out a small piece of white card and slid it across the table to Louis, “That’s my card,” he said, “My direct number in my office is there and my mobile number so anytime you want to talk or meet up you can contact me.”

Louis looked at the neat little card for a moment then back at Liam, “It’s not going to happen overnight. It’ll take a bit of time to even find out who’s likely to give me anything useful. They’re all careful what they say because they know what’s a stake. They’ll have to feel comfortable talking to me. I can’t just go and ask them anything outright.”

Liam nodded in understanding, “Absolutely. I understand,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “Be careful and don’t put yourself at risk. If you’re worried about anything pull back from it.”

Louis felt a strange sensation in his chest and he put it down to the fact that no-one, other than Harry, had cared about him enough to tell him to ‘be careful’ in a long time. It made him slightly uncomfortable and he slid out of his chair immediately. He grabbed his jacket from the seat and took the card off the table. “I’ll be in touch,” he said as he slipped it into his back pocket. Then he turned and walked away before Liam could say anything else.     

Liam watched as Louis exited the coffee shop and disappeared from his sight. He wondered what he was doing getting involved in something like this. He wondered if Louis really would be in touch, then he silently berated himself for not having faith in him. Louis seemed like a decent enough guy. Liam had always prided himself on being a good judge of character; he just hoped he was right this time. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the positive feedback on the first chapter - you've encouraged me to get the next chapter up as soon as I could. Hope you enjoy.

Three weeks passed before Louis contacted Liam. It had been a struggle for Liam to hold back and not visit the area that Louis lived or worked in to see if he had any news for him, but he kept reminding himself that it wouldn’t be helpful and it probably wouldn’t go down well with Louis. Just as Liam was beginning to wonder if Louis would ever get in touch with him he received a phone call asking to meet up at the coffee shop. 

***

Eagerly, Liam arrived at the shop as planned and noticed that Louis wasn’t there yet. He headed straight to the table that they had occupied the last time that they had met up and sat down. Ten minutes later, he decided that Louis was obviously not good at time keeping but this time he didn’t doubt that Louis would eventually arrive. After a while, he did arrive and he made his way over to Liam in his usual casual manner. He slid into the seat opposite the detective and nodded slightly in greeting. 

“How have you been Louis?” Liam asked.

Louis shrugged his shoulders, “Busy. Between working and trying to get information for you I’ve certainly been keeping myself occupied.”

Two teas were brought to the table by the waitress from the last time they had been in the shop. 

“I assumed you’d want one,” Liam said as he waved his hand at the cups.

Louis smiled gratefully and pulled one closer. “So, I’ve been making some new friends,” he said cryptically. 

Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook and pen, “Just in case you tell me anything I need to write down.”

Louis nodded in understanding before he continued, “There are two hookers that I’ve been spending some time with. One’s a woman called Tara, the other’s a guy called Niall. To be honest I think Niall will be my best chance of getting information. He seems fed up of everything, almost like he wants out; I think he’d be willing to tell me anything.”

Liam looked pleased by Louis’ news, “So who do they work for?”

Louis looked over his shoulder automatically and his voice seemed lower when he spoke again, “A guy called Dixon. He’s a nasty piece of work. I know he can get pretty violent. I think that’s why Niall’s had enough.”

Liam sat back a little in his seat and chewed the inside of his cheek before he spoke again, “I’ve heard quite a bit about him. He’s got a reputation that’s for sure; we know he’s a big player in the trade. You’ve definitely picked the right people to speak to because he’s one of the pimps that we’ve been trying to investigate for a long time.”

Louis looked pleased with himself as he took a sip from his tea. Their conversation continued for a little while before Louis decided that he had nothing else to tell Liam and decided to leave. They didn’t make any plans to meet up again, just left it that Louis would be in touch.

***

A few days later, Louis was sitting on his bed idly flicking through a newspaper when he heard Harry coming through the door of their flat and calling out to him.

“I’m in here,” Louis called back.

Harry came bounding in and began talking immediately, “Guess what I’ve just heard?”

Louis shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve got no idea Haz. We’re getting a visit from the Queen tonight?”

Harry laughed, “Nope, far more interesting than that. Apparently cops were all over an alley not far from here early this morning – there was a _dead_ hooker.”

Louis looked up sharply, “Who?”

“Remember Vicky, the little red-head? It was her,” Harry told him.

Louis nodded that he remembered the woman, “Was it to do with her pimp?”

Harry shook his head knowingly, “Apparently not. Nat said that she saw her getting into a car with a john that she didn’t recognise last night. They drove off, the next time anyone saw her, she was dead in an alley.”

Louis blew out a long breath, “Worrying,” he said.

“Hmm,” Harry agreed, “Let’s hope it was just somebody passing through.”

Louis nodded as Harry left him to his newspaper, but Louis couldn’t concentrate on reading now. His thoughts were suddenly much more serious. They had dealt with things like this before. A few years ago some psycho had terrorised the prostitutes working the area. There had been several attacks over a short period of time and it had left all of them unnerved and wondering whether they would have to quit their profession before they ended up dead. After a while the attacks had ceased and everything had returned to normal. That seemed so long ago now, but Louis dreaded anything similar happening again. He dug into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out the now crumpled card that he had been given a few weeks ago. He stared at the numbers on the card for a while before he tucked it back into his pocket and went to talk to Harry. 

***

Three days later Louis arranged a meeting with Liam. He arrived at the coffee shop, late as usual, and found Liam waiting for him in the normal place. Louis did have some information for the detective which he delivered quickly. Then he sat tapping his fingers agitatedly on the table top. 

Liam eyed him with concern, “Is everything alright Louis? You seem a little distracted.”

Louis met his eyes and bit his lip for a few seconds. “Did you hear about the hooker that was killed the other night?” he asked.

Sombrely Liam nodded, “Yes I heard. We were called in because it was on our patch.” He waited for Louis to speak again but he didn’t, so Liam continued, “Did it have something to do with one of the pimps that we’re investigating?”

Louis shook his head immediately, “No. That’s not what the word on the street is. One of the girls saw her getting into a car with a john that she didn’t know. The next thing anyone knew, she was dead.”

Liam leant forward upon hearing Louis’ words. “You mean, someone actually saw her getting in a car with a guy? The girl has got to come forward. She could help us track down the murderer.”

Louis snorted at the suggestion, “Are you serious? That’ll never happen.”

“Why not?” Liam asked. He sounded frustrated, “If it helps to catch a murderer surely she’ll help.”

Louis rolled his eyes at the naivety of the detective, “In case you’ve forgotten, hookers don’t help the police. Even on something like this.”

Liam raised his eyebrows at Louis’ words. “ _You’re_ helping _me_ ,” he pointed out.

There was a moment of silence in which Louis looked torn between irritated and slightly amused by Liam’s comment. Then he simply said, “That’s different.”

“How?” Liam burst out with a slight laugh. “How is that different?”

“It just is,” Louis replied.

“Great argument,” Liam muttered as he smiled warmly at Louis.

Louis gave Liam a sarcastic smile in return before draining his mug of tea and standing up from the table. “I’ll be in touch,” he said as he began to walk away.

“Louis,” Liam called. He had stood up too and was standing beside the table. Louis turned to look at him. “Take care,” Liam said simply.

The smile that Louis gave him this time was a genuine one and Liam returned it. The moment seemed to last a long time, before Louis became aware that it was going on for too long, and he turned and left the coffee shop. 

***

The weeks seemed to be passing by quickly. Liam and Louis had been meeting up fairly regularly as Louis seemed to be uncovering more useful information on a nearly daily basis. Their first few meetings had dealt with just the facts; Louis had told Liam what he knew and then left. The most recent encounters had been different though. When Louis had began shuffling about like he was about to leave Liam had invited him to stay. At first Louis had looked at Liam suspiciously and wondered what else he wanted, but as he sat back in his seat he had realised that Liam wanted nothing more than to just talk. Eventually all of their meetings began to end in the same way; conversation between them became easier and they actually began to develop a somewhat playful banter. If a stranger had seen the two of them sitting in the coffee shop they could have easily mistaken them for old friends. 

One afternoon when Louis arrived at the shop he immediately noticed that Liam looked different; his knee was bobbing up and down rapidly and his fingers drummed on the table-top repeatedly - he seemed worried about something.

“Everything alright?” Louis asked casually as he threw his jacket onto the seat and sat down. 

Liam offered Louis a weak smile. “Mmm,” he grunted, “I’ve got some bad news.”

Louis waited for Liam to explain even though he didn’t like the sound of where this might be going.

“I don’t want you to worry too much yet. I mean it could just be a coincidence…We got a report that a body had been found in the early hours of this morning. It was another female prostitute, in the same alleyway as the last one a few weeks ago,” Liam told him. He didn’t need to say anything else. Louis was smart enough to figure out what that meant for himself. 

Louis blew out a long sigh. “Shit,” he muttered, “You think it’s the same guy again?”

Liam nodded slowly, “I’d say so. Of course they’re running tests and stuff to try to find a DNA match, but, from what I’ve seen, I’d say that it was pretty much a definite thing.”

There wasn’t anything that Louis could say. It was a worrying situation but he couldn’t change it. He knew why Liam had told him; he was trying to warn him to be careful and he appreciated that. But for now, there was really no point in him getting too concerned about it. He would be careful, he always was. He nodded at Liam and began to tell him the latest news he had found out. 

***

The problem of the attacks was something that Louis pushed to the back of his mind. He had a job to do and he couldn’t afford to let anything put him off. Unfortunately, the problem hit close to home a week after Liam had told him about the second victim in the alley. 

Louis had been out to buy milk. When he let himself back into the flat, Harry was just coming out of his room. 

“Lou, I think we’ve got a serious problem,” Harry said when he saw his friend.

Louis’ eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he waited for his room-mate to explain his comment.

“There was another attack last night,” Harry told him. 

Louis’ jaw actually dropped a little in shock before he managed to ask who it was this time. 

“That blonde Irish guy - Niall,” Harry said. He was about to continue but the look on Louis’ face made him stop. “You alright Lou?”

Louis leant against the wall as he breathed out, “Shit.”

“I didn’t know you knew him that well,” Harry said sounding sympathetic.

Louis looked up at his friend, “I didn’t really. Well, I had been talking to him a bit recently. He seemed like a nice enough kid. I can’t believe this.”

Harry seemed to accept what Louis said and moved into the small kitchen area as he talked, “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that we’ve got some psycho cruising the streets. Just what we needed. As if life’s not perfect enough as it is.”

Louis listened to his friend for a while, commenting and agreeing when he thought he should but his head wasn’t really in the conversation. When Harry slipped out later, Louis immediately reached for the card in his back pocket. He didn’t hesitate this time as he called Liam to arrange a meeting.

A few hours later Louis entered the coffee shop. For once he was on time, in fact he was early and had beaten Liam there. He sat down and waited. He had insisted that they had to meet up today and Liam, sensing the urgency in Louis’ voice, had agreed. When Liam walked in, he actually stumbled a little as he saw Louis already sitting waiting at the table. He got over his shock quickly and made his way over to Louis. 

“Good afternoon,” he said as he sat down.

Louis looked at him with slightly wide eyes. Liam knew that something had upset him. “What’s wrong Louis?” he asked.

Louis looked down at the table for a moment and breathed out. When he looked back up, Liam was shocked to see the look on his face. He had never seen Louis looking so worried. “There was another attack last night,” Louis said sombrely.

Liam sighed, “I know. Things are getting out of hand.”

“That’s not all though. The guy that was attacked…it was Niall. The one I was talking to for you,” Louis continued.

Liam’s eyes widened, “Oh shit.”

Louis might have laughed at how similar Liam’s reaction was to his own upon hearing the news, if it hadn’t been such a serious conversation. There was silence between the two men for a while as they were both lost in their own thoughts. 

“That’s the second murder in as many weeks,” Louis said eventually.

“Murder?” Liam asked, “No Louis, the guy from last night isn’t dead. He’s in a mess; badly beaten, sexually assaulted, he’s in a coma, but he’s alive.”

Louis didn’t know whether to cheer or cry as he heard Liam’s words. He was pleased that Niall was alive but hearing what had happened to him was terrible. Briefly he wondered if death was preferable to what Niall would have to deal with if he ever woke up. It occurred to Louis that the police must be doing something about the problem seeing as they now had two bodies on their hands and a third victim in the hospital. “So what are the cops going to do about it then?” he asked suddenly.

Liam looked at him steadily, “There’s an investigation going on but there’s not a lot we can do right now.”

Louis couldn’t believe his ears. There was some psycho running around out there picking them off one-by-one and Liam was saying that there wasn’t anything they could do? He was pissed off. “Yeah, well I suppose it makes things better for you lot,” he spat, “One less hooker on the streets.” He tried to stand up to move away from the table but Liam quickly reached across the table and placed his hand on Louis’ arm. Louis was so surprised by the action that he froze in his seat.

“How can you think that?” Liam asked him. He sounded almost hurt by Louis’ accusation. “I’d rather have prostitutes working the streets than a murderer stalking them.”

Louis didn’t speak but he felt somewhat ashamed of himself for taking his frustrations out on Liam. His eyes lowered and looked at Liam’s hand that was still resting on his arm. 

“We can’t do anything until we get some decent evidence gathered. Of course it would help if we had some witnesses to speak to.” Liam continued to speak before Louis could retort, “And I know that’s not going to happen. You just have to give us some time.”

Louis nodded slowly but didn’t look up. “I know,” he muttered, “I just don’t like feeling that there’s someone out there waiting to pounce.” Finally, Louis lifted his eyes to look at Liam, “I’d better get going.”

Liam suddenly seemed to realise that his hand was still holding onto Louis’ arm across the table. He pulled his hand away quickly. “Alright,” he said, “Just be careful okay? If you have to work, don’t go off with anyone you don’t know.”

Half of Louis wanted to be pissed off that Liam was talking to him like some naïve kid who didn’t know how to take care of himself, but the other half was pleased that Liam actually cared enough to tell him those things. He smiled weakly at the detective before he stood up and walked away. 

***

Much later, Louis was standing in his usual spot looking up and down the street. He felt agitated tonight and he knew he was stressed about the added danger they were all facing. His stress levels were being amplified by the fact that he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. He had been feeling the same all night.

A car eventually approached him. It was one of his regulars and he was glad for the chance to get away from the street for a while. He greeted his customer and slipped into the passenger seat. As the car set off down the street Louis noticed a silver car parked up. He was almost positive that he recognised the vehicle but he could hardly believe it. As the car that Louis was a passenger in passed the silver one he looked sideways out of the window to inspect it more closely. He drew in a sharp breath as he looked straight into Liam’s eyes. The moment lasted mere seconds as the car continued moving down the street. As Louis sat back in the passenger seat he realised that he had been right in feeling that someone was watching him. He just couldn’t have guessed that it was _Liam_ that was doing the watching.

Louis could hardly wait to get back to the street to see if Liam’s car was still parked there. When he returned he was stunned the see the silver car in the same place as before. His mind was racing as he tried to understand what would make Liam want to spend his night sitting there. 

It was late, or early depending on how you looked at it, when Louis and Harry decided to call it a night. They began walking along the street heading for home. They were going in the opposite direction of where Liam’s car, which hadn’t moved, had been parked all night. Louis cast a quick glance over his shoulder as they walked away. The silver car was moving slowly away from its position. Louis allowed himself a small smile as he turned back and continued listening to Harry talking as they walked home. 

***

It was difficult for Louis to decide whether he was grateful for or irritated by Liam’s constant presence while he was working. As much as he wanted to be pissed off by the fact that the detective obviously thought he needed some sort of guardian angel watching over him, Louis couldn’t help but smile to himself when he spotted the silver car each time he arrived at his usual spot. If he was honest, he really did appreciate Liam’s concern for his welfare but he still couldn’t understand why he would want to spend his evenings hanging around the area in his car. 

Liam had been parked somewhere nearby every night for a week now. Louis hadn’t approached him and had given no obvious sign that he was even aware of his presence. He assumed that Liam realised that Louis knew he was there. 

They hadn’t met up at the coffee shop since Niall had been attacked; there was no news so Louis didn’t think there was any point. He was pretty sure that Liam wouldn’t want to meet up so that they could talk about the weather or anything else that didn’t involve his investigation. There was no information for Louis to gather at the moment anyway. His main source was lying comatose in the hospital and most of the other prostitutes had been even more guarded with who they spent their time with since the attacks had started. 

Things had been quiet for a week now. No new attacks, which was definitely a positive, but there was a definite sense of nervousness amongst the people who worked the streets. 

It had been a fairly slow night and for once Louis was relieved. He had been suffering with the symptoms of a cold for a few days but tonight he wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep. His head pounded, his muscles ached and his body couldn’t decide whether it was boiling hot or freezing cold. After a few hours of standing around feeling sorry for himself and dealing half-heartedly with a few customers he decided to call it a night. He hoped that if he could get a few hours of extra sleep he’d feel better tomorrow.

Louis was wrong. When he woke up late the next day, he knew that his cold had developed into a nasty case of the flu. All the symptoms from the previous few days seemed to be amplified. He struggled to push himself into a sitting position, feeling like his limbs were dead weights, and groaned lowly at the throbbing in his head. There was movement outside his bedroom and then Harry opened the door and stepped in. 

“You’re finally awake,” he said stating the obvious, “Jeez, you look like shit.”

Louis scowled at him but didn’t speak, he didn’t know if he could. He began moving painfully slowly out of his bed.

“Woah,” Harry said as he stepped forward, “Where are you going?”

Louis swallowed and winced as the sensation seemed to tear at his throat, “Have to get ready for work.”

Harry blew out a breath, “Not like that you’re not. You can hardly move, you’re not going to be able to stand up out there let alone do anything else.”

Louis looked at him with a challenge on his pale face, “Don’t have a choice. Besides I can’t let you go out there on your own at the minute.”

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend, “I appreciate your concern Lou, but you’re going to end up in the hospital if you push yourself too much. I’ll go and hang around with some of the girls until you’re feeling better – at least then you’ll feel better knowing that I’m not on my own.” He walked towards Louis and gently pushed him backwards onto his bed, “Now, no more arguments.” Harry turned and walked towards the bedroom door, then said over his shoulder with a smile, “No-one would want to pick you up tonight anyway, you really do look like shit.” 

Louis would have raised his middle finger at his friend if he’d had the energy. Instead he drifted off into a fitful sleep. 

***

The next few days went by in a blur for Louis. He really had no concept of days and nights seeing as he slept for such a long time. Harry was doing his best to take care of him but he still had to work so Louis was often alone. He had hardly left his room in the last few days, the effort of simply walking to the bathroom seemed to drain him of all energy. 

It had been four nights since he had last been to work. Harry had left about an hour ago and as Louis lay on his bed he actually thought that he was feeling a little better than he had in days. He decided to put it to the test and pushed himself slowly out of his bed. He made his way towards the kitchen area steadily and leant against the counter as he poured himself a glass of water. His head still pounded and he had developed a rattling cough that seemed to shake his whole body. He knew that he wouldn’t be going back out to work for a while. 

As he stood beside the sink sipping slowly at the water, he heard an insistent knocking on the door of the flat. Louis placed the glass on the side and began a painfully slow walk towards the door. It was hardly a long way to go seeing as the flat was so small, but Louis didn’t have the energy to move any quicker. ‘ _Whoever it is will have probably given up by the time I get there_ ,’ he grumbled internally. He eventually reached the door and pulled it open to reveal a rather fraught looking detective standing on the other side. 

“Thank God you’re alright,” Liam said immediately, then he stopped as he looked Louis over, “ _Are_ you alright? You look terrible.”

“Thanks,” Louis muttered as he moved away from the door and sat down on a chair in the living area of the flat. He looked at Liam questioningly. “What are you doing here?” he asked hoarsely.

Liam stepped slightly further into the flat and pushed the door to behind him, “I thought something had happened to you. You haven’t been at work, your friend wasn’t there either. I thought you were hurt or maybe you’d moved away.”

Louis rolled his eyes, assuming that the detective was worried about his investigation, “Well I’m not dead and I’ll get back into snooping around for you as soon as I’m better okay?”

Liam looked taken aback. “That’s not why I’m here,” he said quickly, “With everything that’s been happening I wanted to check that you were safe. I was worried.”

Louis’ eyes widened and Liam actually blushed as he realised what he had said. He continued quickly, “It doesn’t look like you are alright though. What’s wrong?”

Deciding not to dwell on Liam’s previous comment, Louis filled him in, “I’ve got the flu. I feel like shit to be honest.”

“Oh right,” Liam said, not really knowing what else to say. He suddenly felt awkward. “Is Harry taking care of you?”

“He’s doing his best,” Louis told him.

Liam shuffled a little on the spot then announced, “Well I’m glad it’s nothing too serious. I’m sorry that I bothered you when you probably just want to get some rest. I’ll see you soon. Feel better.” He turned around quickly and exited the flat closing the door quietly behind him.

Louis remained in his seat for quite a while after Liam had left. Partly because he needed to build up the energy to move and partly because he was trying to figure out what had just happened. Liam had gone to the effort of coming to his home to check up on him because he was _worried_ about him? When Louis had opened the door Liam had looked genuinely concerned. He had actually said that he wanted to make sure that Louis was safe. After a while Louis decided to move; his head hurt too much from his headache already to sit there trying to understand the bizarre visit that had just taken place. 

***

The following day Louis was feeling slightly better again. He hoped that he was on the right side of his illness now and he was going to gradually get back on his feet properly. 

Harry had popped out to the shop and Louis was alone in his room again. He had spent most of the time he was awake going over his encounter with Liam from the previous day. He wanted to think that Liam was just worried about his investigation and had just checked up on him because he needed to make sure that his ‘spy’ was still going to be able to work for him, but something about Liam’s reaction yesterday made it difficult for him to believe that. 

Yet again he was thinking about what had happened when he heard a knock on the flat door. His mind immediately thought of Liam, then he silently cursed himself for being stupid. He gradually made his way to the door and opened it. There was nobody there. He was about to step out into the hallway to check when he looked down and saw a white plastic bag sitting on the floor. He leant down and picked it up, then looked down the corridor before stepping back inside and closing the door. Cautiously, he opened the bag and saw a piece of white paper folded up at the top. He pulled it out and opened it:

_Louis,_

_Think these will probably help._

_Hope you’re feeling better soon._

_Liam_

Louis peered into the bag and raised his eyebrows. He went to the table and carefully tipped the contents out. Various medicines rolled out onto the table; painkillers and cough syrup, and finally two cans of chicken soup. Before he could think about it, a wide smile had appeared on his face and he picked up the note and re-read it. Surely these could not be the actions of someone who just wanted him to help them with their investigation. The smile remained fixed on Louis’ face as he gathered up the note, the bag and its contents and took them to his room. 

It was quite a while before Harry returned. He walked straight into Louis’ room and stared at his friend for a while. 

“I’m glad you’re awake,” he said eventually. “We need to talk.”

Louis had already noticed the odd look on his friend’s face and now he was wondering what was going on. For a horrible moment he thought that Harry was going to tell him that there had been another attack.

“What’s up?” Louis asked him.

“I was hoping that you could tell me that,” Harry said bluntly.

The confusion Louis felt obviously showed on his face so Harry continued, “I was wondering why some strange guy has been visiting you.”

Louis’ confused expression changed to a look of wide-eyed understanding as he finally realised what Harry was talking about. What he didn’t know was _how_ Harry knew about Liam’s visits so he continued to play dumb. “What are you talking about Haz?”

Harry was looking more and more pissed off as he began his explanation, “Well, yesterday I heard that some guy was asking which flat was ours, then today when I get back from the shop I find out that the same guy has been back. Except this time he brought a package in a bag with him; he came into the building with it, then left without it not long after. So you can imagine that I’m more than a little curious about what the hell is going on!” When he finished speaking he stared at Louis silently challenging him to make up some excuse. However before Louis could speak, Harry continued, “If you’ve got yourself mixed up in drugs or some shit then you have to tell me. I’ll be pissed off but I’ll help you. But I can’t do anything if you aren’t telling me the truth.”   

There was a moment of tense silence before Louis leant off the side of his bed and reached into his nightstand. He pulled out the plastic bag and tipped the contents out onto his bed. “These are my ‘drugs’,” he said as he waved his hand over the medicines.

Harry inspected the pile before looking at his friend in confusion. 

“Sit down,” Louis said patting the bed, “I’ll explain everything as long as you promise not to freak out.”

“That’s not exactly the best way to start your explanation Lou,” Harry said as he sat down. 

Louis took a deep breath and cleared his throat, “The guy that came looking for me is a cop. He came over yesterday and then brought this stuff round today.”

Harry continued to look at his friend in confusion. “Okay,” he said slowly, “Since when did the cops start delivering medicines to sick hookers? Is this some outreach program that I’ve not heard about?”

Louis rolled his eyes at his sarcastic friend, “Do you want me to explain or not?”

There was no further comment from Harry so Louis took that to mean that he should continue, “Now here’s the part I don’t want you to freak out about. Let me explain everything before you interrupt.” He paused for a moment as he looked at his friend. He knew how this was going to sound – absolutely fucking insane – but he just hoped that he could make Harry understand somehow. “You remember when I got set up a while ago and got taken down to the station? Well the cop that visited me is the same one that set me up. He’s called Detective Payne. He asked me if I’d help him find out some information about the pimps working round here and I agreed to it,” Louis stopped speaking, partly to let the information sink in with Harry but also to get a drink for his dry throat. 

“Fucking hell,” Harry breathed out. “I can’t believe this. But why did he come round here?”

“He came to check on me. When I didn’t show up at work like normal he thought something had happened to me,” Louis told him.

“ _He came to check on you?”_ Harry repeated in shock, “What the hell?”

Louis actually felt his cheeks grow a little warm at Harry’s reaction and for some reason he felt the need to defend Liam’s actions. “It’s just because of all the attacks that have been happening. He wanted to make sure that I was alright.”

Harry huffed slightly, “Well as long as that’s all he wants. You can’t trust the fucking cops Lou.”

“Liam’s not like the others,” Louis burst out, then wished he hadn’t when he saw the look on Harry’s face.

“ _Liam_?” he asked, “Fucking hell you’re on first name terms with the guy. Jesus Christ. Look Louis what you choose to do is up to you but I’m just trying to look out for you. All cops are the same. They’re a bunch of hypocritical bastards that’ll use you for what they want then probably throw you in jail the next day. It’s best to stay well clear of them in my opinion. Obviously you’re already in this pretty deep but just be careful okay? Don’t be too disappointed when he turns out to be just like all the others.”

Louis felt a sad sense of defeat rush over him. He had known that Harry wouldn’t be impressed by the idea but he was still disappointed to hear such a scathing warning. He knew that his friend was only trying to look after him, but surely he was wrong this time. Liam seemed like such a genuinely nice guy. He had gone out of his way to look out for Louis, how could he be just like the others?

“I understand what you’re saying Haz,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you what was going on sooner, I just thought it would be better for you if you didn’t know. I’ll be careful, I always am.”

Harry smiled at him warmly and patted his arm, “I’ll always be here for you Lou, even if no-one else is.” With that he stood up from Louis’ bed and left the room. 

Louis sat looking at the medicines on his bed. His conversation with Harry had left him questioning everything that had happened recently, but still part of him refused to believe that Liam was the same as all the other cops he had ever encountered. Everything he had experienced since he had first met Liam pointed to him being the exact opposite of the ‘hypocritical bastards’ that Harry had talked about. Louis just hoped that he was right.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a few more days before Louis felt well enough to go back to work and a few more after that before he actually _went_ back. For some reason that he couldn’t seem to understand, he was very reluctant to return to standing on the street every night. Even after he was feeling better he kept finding reasons why he should have one more night off. 

After a few nights though, Harry decided enough was enough and, after a lot of discussion, Louis eventually found himself back on the street. His less than enthusiastic mood wasn’t improved when he arrived to find that there was no sign of the silver car or Liam. He tried to push the disappointment out of his mind. He told himself that he shouldn’t be surprised seeing as Liam had probably got fed-up of his nightly vigils after a few uneventful evenings. 

Harry had told Louis that he would feel like he had never been off ill after a night being back at work and he was right. Louis found that he slipped back into his routine remarkably easily even though there was some small doubt constantly gnawing at his mind telling him that he didn’t really want to be there.     

After a few nights things were back to normal. It had been a steady night and Louis had just returned from a regular customer to find that Harry wasn’t in their usual spot. Louis assumed that he had been picked up by one of his regular johns and leant against the wall to have a break. 

The rest of the night seemed to rush by and Louis had been with a few more johns, each time returning to find that there was still no sign of his friend. It had been a few hours since Louis had seen him and he was beginning to get a little worried. It was unusual for them not to cross paths, even on really busy nights. 

More time passed and Louis realised that it was the time that he and Harry usually started thinking about heading for home. This just wasn’t right; Harry should be back by now. Louis stepped towards the edge of the pavement and peered in both directions along the street. There was hardly anyone around and definitely no sign of his friend. He couldn’t just go home though, so he began pacing along the kerb in agitation. He didn’t know what to do for the best; he didn’t want to go home in case Harry returned and wondered where he was, but he couldn’t exactly start searching for him seeing as he had no idea where he might be or who he had gone with. Louis shuddered involuntarily at that thought; what if it wasn’t one of his regulars? He stopped pacing and stood very still for a moment, then he began walking quickly along the street in the direction of the car park that Liam had taken him to. He couldn’t stand there doing nothing. 

As he swiftly made his way along the street he saw a woman that he knew walking towards him quickly. When she saw him she began running towards him. 

“Louis! Thank God you’re still out,” she called as she got closer. 

Louis knew the woman; she had been a friend of Harry’s for a long time and had therefore become a friend of Louis’. On hearing her words, Louis felt a sense of dread rush over him; he knew that something was terribly wrong. 

“Nat, what’s wrong? Is it Harry?” he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

The woman was right in front of him now and she swallowed thickly before she replied, “He’s been attacked.”

Louis felt like the world had stopped turning for a moment and he struggled to remain calm as he forced himself to ask, “Where is he? How bad is it?”

Nat looked at him with wide eyes, “I don’t know. They took him straight to the hospital. Someone found him in an alleyway and I guess they called for an ambulance.”

Louis’ distressed mind grasped hold of the fact that if they had taken him to the hospital that meant he was alive. “Thanks for coming to find me,” he said, “I’m going to go to the hospital to find him. Do you want to come?”

Nat nodded that she would go with Louis and they began walking quickly in worried silence. 

***

“I can’t believe there’s been another one,” Liam growled as he drove his car towards the hospital. 

His partner sitting beside him shook his head, “Well until we get some solid evidence to catch the sick freak there’s going to be more and more. There’s got to be witnesses - if only they’d come forward.”

‘ _There_ are _witnesses, but they’ll never talk to us_ ,’ Liam thought to himself but he didn’t say anything to his partner. It would cause too many questions that Liam couldn’t answer right now seeing as he hadn’t told anyone about his meetings with Louis. 

Liam’s thoughts drifted to Louis. He had tried not to think about him but everything seemed to lead him back to the prostitute. It seemed that Louis’ illness had kept him off the streets for a while and Liam had decided to stop his nightly vigils on the street. Liam had been unnerved by his own reaction to Louis’ absence. He had been driven to distraction by his concern, and had been undeniably relieved when he had found Louis safe at his home. However his relief had turned to confusion within moments. Why was he so happy to see that Louis was okay? Why had he gone to the effort of delivering medicines to Louis’ door? Why was he so disappointed that he hadn’t heard anything from Louis in the last week or so? Liam’s grip tightened around the steering wheel as his mind continued calling out questions about his involvement with Louis.

“Liam? Are you even listening to me?” His thoughts were interrupted by his partner’s insistent voice.   

“What?” he asked suddenly, “Sorry Zayn, I’m just so frustrated by this case. Got a lot of stuff going round in my head.”

His partner nodded in understanding, “Tell me about it. Let’s just hope that this one can give us something useful.”

When Liam and Zayn arrived at the hospital they quickly located the doctor that had dealt with the latest victim to find out the basic information before they went to ask their questions. The doctor explained that the victim was a male prostitute brought to the hospital in the early hours of the morning. He had been sexually assaulted and beaten but he was conscious and would be able to speak to them. 

“ _Able_ to and _willing_ to are two very different things,” Zayn muttered as they were led towards a bed surrounded by a curtain. 

Liam just nodded grimly at his partner. He knew that they were very unlikely to get anywhere with this prostitute but they had to try. Liam was struggling to shake the feeling of dread that he had experienced when the doctor had told them that it was a male prostitute. His mind had immediately thought of Louis and as they approached the curtain he tried to push the terrible idea away. 

The doctor looked over the chart in his hand. “I’ll leave you to speak with him. The patient’s name is Harry Styles,” he said as he grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it back far enough to let the detectives walk through. 

Liam couldn’t move when he looked through the gap. He had recognised the name the doctor had said but hoped that he was mistaken. Now as he looked at the victim lying on the bed he knew that there had been no mistake. It wasn’t his worst fear but he still felt awful when he saw Harry lying there propped up by pillows. His left eye was swollen shut and he had a split lip but other than that there were no outwardly visible signs of what had happened. Liam knew all to well that the other injuries were hidden.

As he looked Harry over, he realised that there was someone else beside the bed. Liam’s eyes widened when he looked up and saw Louis sitting next to his friend, a look of complete shock on his own face. Liam felt a shove to his back and realised that he still hadn’t moved towards the bed so he took a few unsteady steps forward. Zayn appeared alongside him looking at his partner in confusion before he began to speak, “Hello, I’m Detective Zayn Malik and this is my partner Detective Liam Payne. We’d like to talk to you about what happened to you last night.”

When Zayn had introduced them Harry had given Louis a quick knowing look, as if to say, ‘So _this_ is your detective then’ before looking back at Zayn. The movement was so slight that Zayn didn’t seem to notice it, but Liam did and it suddenly made him feel very exposed. 

Harry looked at Zayn steadily. “There’s nothing to talk about. Shit happens. It’s a hazard of the job,” he said gruffly. His voice sounded strained and gravelly, but that wasn’t what made Liam wince. It was the way that Harry seemed so accepting of what had happened like there was no point trying to fight the inevitable. 

Zayn sighed quietly, “We believe that the person that attacked you has been involved in a number of attacks against prostitutes in the area. I understand that you don’t want to speak to the police but a statement from you could help us to catch the man responsible for this. It might stop him doing it to someone else.”

Harry continued to look at him defiantly but didn’t speak. 

Liam could see that this wasn’t going to get them anywhere so he decided to try a different approach. He had been watching Louis out of the corner of his eye since he had arrived and got over the initial shock of seeing him. He desperately wanted to speak to him alone and hoped that maybe Louis would be able to persuade Harry to talk to them. Louis had been very quiet the whole time, alternating between looking at his friend and discreetly looking at Liam. 

“Could I have a word with you outside?” Liam suddenly asked as he made eye contact with Louis. 

Zayn looked totally bewildered by Liam’s actions, but remained where he was to continue trying to persuade Harry to help them as Liam walked out through the gap in the curtains. 

Louis looked at Harry for a moment before standing up and following the detective. Liam led him down the corridor so that they were out of earshot before he turned around and looked Louis over, “Are you alright Louis?”

“Well my best friend is in the hospital after some psycho attacked him so no, not really,” Louis replied bluntly. 

“Sorry,” Liam muttered, “I don’t suppose you are. I just didn’t know what else to say. I was surprised to see you here.”

Louis nodded as he leant against the wall, “Tell me about it. I really wasn’t expecting you to come walking in.” He yawned suddenly and then ran his fingers through his hair.

“You look exhausted,” Liam said as he watched him.

“I am,” Louis replied, “I came straight here from work so I’ve not had chance to get any sleep yet. Don’t even know if I’d be able to after what’s happened.”

Liam shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he spoke, “I didn’t know that you were back working.”

Louis felt his cheeks flush with heat. “Yeah well I have to pay the rent and eat you know,” he replied sharply, not understanding why he felt ashamed of himself or why he felt the need to defend his actions.

“I know,” Liam said as he held up his hands in front of him. He sighed deeply, “Do you think Harry would help us catch this guy?”

Louis shook his head slowly, “He doesn’t trust the cops. He would take a lot of persuading.”

Liam looked at Louis with a small hopeful smile on his face. It took a moment for Louis to realise what he was suggesting with that smile. “You want me to try to talk him into it don’t you?”

Liam smiled a little more, “Would you at least try? I know he’s been through a terrible ordeal but we all want to stop this son of a bitch before he hurts anyone else. This might be our best chance.” 

Louis looked at him for a long time before he eventually nodded, “I’ll try,” he sighed, “But I’m not promising anything. And you’ll have to get your partner to leave us alone for a bit.”

Liam smiled at him gratefully before they both walked back towards Harry’s bed.

There had been no progress since they had left Harry and Zayn so Liam quickly pulled his partner away and left Louis to it. 

“Well that wasn’t too awkward was it?” Harry said sarcastically.

Louis rolled his eyes, “It never even occurred to me that he would come down here to talk to you.”

“I’d say it was pretty obvious that his partner doesn’t know that he’s been meeting up with you. You must be his dirty little secret,” Harry continued gruffly. 

Louis ignored the comment and set about his task, “Look Haz, I know you aren’t going to like this but Liam has asked if I’ll try to get you to cooperate with them.”

Harry laughed harshly, “Yeah I bet he has. I told you Lou, they’ll take what they want and then treat us like shit.”

Louis shook his head, “Liam’s not like that. He wants to catch this guy as much as we want him off the streets. He’s been looking out for us this whole time. He’s been coming out to the street every night to keep an eye on what’s going on and try to stop the creep.”

Harry looked at him in disbelief, “Has he just told you that?”

“No, I saw him. He was there every night for a while. He gave up his evenings to sit there and try to help us. He’s a good guy,” Louis told him. “They can’t make any progress with catching whoever’s doing this because no-one will talk to them. You might be able to give them what they need to stop him once and for all.”

Harry was very still and very quiet for a long time as he thought about what Louis had said. As much as he hated the police he couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope brought on by Louis’ faith in Liam. “Okay,” he finally agreed, “I’ll talk to them.”

Louis smiled widely at his injured friend, “Thank you Haz. You’re doing the right thing.”

Harry grunted as Louis disappeared through the curtain. 

The two detectives appeared through the curtain accompanied by Louis a few minutes later. Zayn looked slightly stunned by the turn of events but Liam just smiled appreciatively at Harry. Harry nodded slightly at Detective Payne in response. Liam turned back to Louis, “Could I speak to you again please?”

Louis immediately looked at his friend, “I’ll stay here with you if you want me to.”

Harry shook his head, “No it’s fine. I’m sure Detective Malik and I will be okay. Besides it’s not like I’m telling a bedtime story, you probably don’t want to hear it.”

Louis hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to leave Harry if his friend needed him. “Honestly Lou, it’s okay,” Harry reassured him, and Louis followed Liam again. 

“Thank you Louis,” Liam said as they stopped in the corridor once more.

Louis just shrugged in response, he didn’t really know what to say for once. 

There was a moment of awkward silence before Liam spoke again, “Will you meet up with me again tomorrow?”

Louis was completely shocked by Liam’s request, they hadn’t been to the coffee shop for a long time and he had nothing to report anyway. It took him a few minutes before he managed to form a response, “I can’t. I need to take care of Harry, I can’t leave him on his own.”

“Of course,” Liam replied, “I should have thought about that. How about we leave it a few days then? What about Tuesday?”

Louis was still struggling to understand why Liam wanted to meet up with him at all. “Alright,” he said slowly. 

Liam smiled at him, “Tuesday then, usual time. Thank you.”

Louis wasn’t sure what he was being thanked for. He didn’t know whether Liam was still grateful that he had persuaded Harry or if Liam was pleased that he had agreed to meet him. He had far too much on his mind to try to understand. He nodded at Liam before heading back towards Harry’s bed. 

***

Tuesday seemed to arrive quickly. Louis had hardly left the flat in the last few days because he was busy taking care of Harry and now he was actually quite pleased for a change of scene. As he made his way towards the coffee shop he was still trying to figure out why Liam wanted to meet with him at all. He couldn’t deny that he was pleased about the meeting though. Harry had given him a knowing look and a cheeky smile when Louis had told him that he was going out. Louis had rolled his eyes at his friend and made a hasty exit before Harry could make any comment about where he was going. 

On his arrival at the coffee shop, late as usual, Louis paused for a moment outside the door. A small part of his mind was telling him that he should cut his ties with the detective before he got any more involved, but it was such a small part that it was shouted down by the rest of his mind that was urging him to get into the shop and see Liam. 

Inside the coffee shop, Liam was sitting at their usual table waiting. Louis made his way over and slid into the seat opposite, smiling slightly in greeting.

“How’s Harry?” Liam asked immediately.

“He’s actually doing okay,” Louis replied, “He’s obviously still shaken up by the whole thing but it’ll take more than that to stop him. He’s already talking about getting back to work.”

“Really?” Liam was clearly surprised. “He must be made of tough stuff.”

Louis shrugged, “I guess we have to be.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as Liam didn’t know how to respond to what Louis had just said. 

“So have you got any further with catching the guy then?” Louis asked eventually.

Grateful for the question that interrupted the silence, Liam replied, “Well using what Harry told us about him and the DNA samples that we’ve gathered we’re searching the known sex offenders register for a match. If that doesn’t give us anything we’ll widen the search. At least now we have a rough idea of who we’re actually looking out for.” 

Louis nodded. He knew that such an investigation would take a while but at least he knew that something was being done to try to catch the attacker. “Harry’ll be pleased to know that what he gave you was useful,” he said. 

“It really has been,” Liam replied, “We wouldn’t have made any progress without his help…and yours.”

Again, awkward silence seemed to descend between them and Louis couldn’t help but think that Liam wanted to say something more. He waited patiently for him to speak again. Liam sat chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment until he eventually said,

“Louis…something’s been bothering me since we were at the hospital - something that Harry said.”

Louis didn’t speak, he just raised his eyebrows slightly and waited for Liam to continue.

“He said that what happened to him was a hazard of the job. I know stuff like that does happen but I was wondering…” he trailed off and stared at Louis intensely for a moment before he cleared his throat and continued, “I was wondering if anything like that had ever happened to you.”

Louis sat back in his seat as he held eye contact with Liam. Again he wondered why Liam would be so interested but he didn’t see any point in hiding the truth. “Nothing as bad as what happened to Harry,” he said as he shrugged, “There’s always going to be some guy who thinks he can get something for nothing, or some dickhead who thinks it’s okay to knock you about. I guess you just get used to it.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Liam suddenly blurted out. Louis’ eyes widened at the outburst; he didn’t know what to think about it. Liam looked a little embarrassed by what he had just said and quickly asked another question, “So how did you get into this anyway?”

For once, it was Louis that was caught off guard by the quick change in the conversation but he smiled at Liam easily, “I left home when I was seventeen and ended up here.”

Liam rolled his eyes and smiled sarcastically, “Wow, thanks for that Louis. I feel like I know you so much better now.”

Louis laughed, “Well you never said you wanted all the gory details.”

Liam was chuckling too as he replied, “Maybe you can leave out the ‘gory’ details but give me some of the _necessary_ details instead.”

Louis began to trace the pattern on the table top with his finger: an action that Liam had noticed he always did when he was thinking about something in depth. Liam was pretty sure that Louis was trying to decide whether or not he was ready to tell him his story. As he watched him closely, Louis suddenly looked up and their eyes met. They both held the stare for a while, then Louis began to speak. 

“I didn’t have the clichéd childhood that you might expect. My family life was happy, I got on well with my parents...” he paused for a moment and took a deep breath, “I never really knew my real dad but my mum married when I was little and my step-dad _became_ my dad; I never saw him as anything other than that. I was happy until he died when I was fourteen. Everything changed then. We were all devastated, my mum was depressed for a while but then she met this new guy and suddenly she was okay again. I didn’t like him, and I know it was partly because he wasn’t my dad but it wasn’t just that – he was a creep. Or I thought so anyway. My mum thought he was great and it didn’t take long before she moved him in. 

As I got older I guess I rebelled against him, I went off the rails a bit and there were a lot of rows. At first my mum tried to keep the peace, but as time went on I think she started to panic that if he left her she’d be all alone again so she started to side with him. Of course that made things even worse for me, I felt betrayed by my own mum, you know? 

Anyway, it all came to a head on my seventeenth birthday. There was a huge fight…he hit me. It was awful. I knew afterwards that I had two choices; pack up my stuff and leave of my own accord or be thrown out. So I packed what I wanted and walked out of there. I crashed at friends’ houses for a while, but their parents didn’t want me permanently moving in so that didn’t last long. 

Eventually, I found myself sleeping rough. The little money that I had soon ran out and I didn’t stand a chance of getting a job. I saw how other people survived on the streets and I realised that I didn’t have much choice; it was either be a hooker or starve to death. 

The first few times it made me sick, I hated myself for what I was doing, but when you finally get something to eat after days without food it soon makes you forget that. I wasn’t making enough to be able to get a place on my own so I stayed on the streets for a while. I must have been there for about a year when I met Harry one night. We got to talking and he seemed like a nice guy. After a few weeks he told me that his room-mate had moved out so he needed someone to take his place. He asked me if I was interested. When you’ve been sleeping rough the offer of a roof over your head is the most amazing thing so of course I jumped at the opportunity. I moved in with Harry and I’ve been there ever since.” Louis shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly at Liam, “So do you feel like you know me a little better now?”

Liam had listened to Louis’ story intently, never interrupting because he didn’t want Louis to stop talking now he had started and also because he didn’t know what to say anyway. He felt so terrible for Louis that his own family hadn’t protected him, had watched him walk away and left him to live a life that no-one should have to. He cleared his throat, “Yeah, yeah that helps me understand.” He didn’t know what else to say and he feared the awkward silence would descend again, however Louis prevented that from happening. 

“So, I can’t believe that you asked me here today just to find out my life story. What was the real reason?” Louis secretly thought that Liam was going to ask him to start snooping around for information again so what happened next caught him completely off guard. 

Liam reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small, black canister and placed it on the table in front of Louis. Louis just looked at it in confusion.

“Pepper spray,” Liam stated simply. “Just in case you ever get into a situation that you can’t get out of.”

Louis’ heart leapt at Liam’s words and he couldn’t stop the genuine smile that appeared on his face. He was so stunned that Liam would be so concerned about him that he would actually give him something to help keep him safe. An unusual warm feeling flooded his entire being. He continued to smile at Liam. “Thank you,” was all he could manage to say as he picked up the little can and looked at it as though it was some rare, expensive gift. 

Liam was smiling at Louis with a mix of surprise and relief at Louis’ reaction. He had wondered whether Louis would be angry that he had given him such a thing but now he could tell that he had done the right thing. Louis looked genuinely touched by his offering. “Oh hang on, I nearly forgot,” he said as he reached into his pocket again. He pulled out a second can of pepper spray and handed it to Louis. When Louis looked at him questioningly, Liam said, “For Harry. When he’s ready to get back to work.”

If Liam had thought that Louis looked pleased before, it was nothing compared to how he smiled at Liam now. Liam returned the smile and couldn’t stop himself thinking how wonderful Louis looked when he smiled so genuinely.

The two men remained in the booth for a while longer. Louis decided that it was his turn to find out more about how Liam had ended up as a detective. They talked and laughed comfortably, both of them suddenly beginning to see the other in a very different light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the fluff at the end there makes up for what I did to Harry...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please look at the tags before reading - they act as your warning for this chapter.

It didn’t take long before Harry decided that he wanted to get back out to work. He had said that he wanted to put the whole terrible experience behind him and had joked about ‘getting back on the horse’ when Louis had suggested to him that maybe it was still too soon.

In truth, it was actually Louis that was more reluctant to get back onto the streets. Louis hadn’t worked since Harry had been attacked, choosing to stay at their flat each night and sit with his friend rather than go out to turn tricks. At first Harry had appreciated his friend’s concern but after a while he had started to question Louis about the real reasons that he didn’t want to go out to work. Everything that Harry said to him was light-hearted and meant as a joke but Louis couldn’t stop himself from getting defensive when Harry suggested that the real reason he didn’t want to work was because of ‘ _Detective Liam’_. Harry’s joking around was accompanied by a genuine warning though. He constantly reminded Louis that he should be careful around the police officer and not allow himself to get too closely involved. Harry knew that he was fighting a losing battle; it was pretty obvious to him that Louis was falling for the detective and he just hoped that his friend wouldn’t end up getting hurt. He even found himself beginning to believe that Detective Payne was a decent guy when Louis returned from his meeting with a huge, contented smile on his face and two cans of pepper spray in his pocket. Maybe the detective was different to the others after all, maybe Louis was right. Harry decided to reserve his judgement for a later time.

Eventually, the two of them ended up back out working on the streets. The first few evenings dragged for both of them as Harry constantly moved agitatedly around the area waiting for regular johns to show up and Louis paced constantly as he secretly wished none of his regulars would appear.

However things had to return to normal and Harry began to gradually regain his confidence. He refused to go with anyone that wasn’t one of the men he had worked for before but that still kept him fairly busy.

Louis was amazed that _he_ had any regular customers left, after he had been absent from work first through illness, then because he was taking care of Harry and now he was sure that his lacklustre expression would encourage any johns to drive straight past him. Still some of his regulars turned up and he half-heartedly dealt with them.

He was beginning to think there was something seriously wrong with him; he hadn’t felt this dirty and depraved since he had first started working as a hooker when he was seventeen. Deep down he knew what was causing his attitude, it really was glaringly obvious and he didn’t need Harry’s constant comments about it to make him see the truth. He was so reluctant to work because of Liam. His change in mood had occurred gradually since he had been getting to know the detective and now every time a john pulled up in front of him his thoughts immediately went to wondering what Liam would think of him. Part of him was angry that he was allowing himself to be distracted and deterred from his work by the detective but the rest of him seemed to be consumed with an overwhelming sense of warmth whenever he pictured Liam’s face. Each time that Louis got down on his knees before a customer or climbed into a car with someone, he was grateful that Liam was no longer parked somewhere along the street watching him. He didn’t think that he could cope with how filthy and ashamed he would feel.

Of course Harry had noticed the change in Louis. Louis had always been so confident and self-assured about the services he offered, he had hung around on the street looking so seductive that he practically challenged the customers to be able to drive by. Now he seemed much more content to hang back further in the shadows of the buildings, almost like he hoped that no-one would notice him. His confident swagger as he approached the vehicles was replaced by his feet dragging across the pavement as he plastered a less than convincing smile on his face. Harry knew that Louis’ heart wasn’t in his work anymore; his heart was far too busy dreaming of Detective Payne.

***

It had been several weeks since Liam had driven to the street and parked up to ‘observe’ the comings and goings of the prostitutes and their tricks. That was the reason he had given himself for the visits; for a long time he had pushed down the part of his brain that kept telling him that he was only going there to check up on Louis. Tonight he didn’t even bother telling himself any excuses as to why he was there. It was pretty obvious – he wanted to see Louis. He was sure that Louis and Harry would have returned to work by now so he drove along and parked his car up for the evening. He had decided that it might be best if he parked further away from the usual spot so his car now faced the area where Louis and Harry worked but was much further along the street.

He could still clearly make out the two figures of Louis and Harry. The taller of the two was standing near the edge of the road, while Louis leant against the building. Liam settled back in his seat to watch. He took a sip from the paper coffee cup that he had collected on his way over and wondered exactly what he was watching for.

It didn’t take long before a car pulled up in front of the two men. Harry leant down to speak to the occupant and then turned and waved his hand at his friend. Louis traipsed out from the shadows of the building slowly and got into the car. Without realising it, Liam had leant right forward in his seat and was staring intensely at the car as it drove off. As soon as he had seen Louis making his way towards the vehicle he had wanted to jump out of his own car and shout for him to stop. As the car disappeared down the street Liam wondered what had stopped him. The thought of Louis being touched by some disgusting creep made his skin crawl. His hands tightened around the steering wheel and his knuckles turned white as he felt his heart rate increasing. He wondered if Louis had his pepper spray with him and then smiled softly to himself as he recalled the look on Louis’ face when he had given it to him. He breathed deeply to calm the rage that was building inside him. He remained leaning forward in his seat for some time, he kept checking his watch and just when he was wondering if Louis had been gone for too long he saw the car coming back down the street. It pulled up and Louis slid out. He walked back towards the building and leant against the wall once more. Liam exhaled heavily before he leant back in his seat, finally feeling like he could relax a little.

A little later another car pulled up. Again Liam leant forward, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to control himself this time and was beginning to think that coming down here tonight was a bad idea.

Louis was still standing in the shadows as Harry spoke to the driver of the vehicle. This time Harry opened the car door but just as he was about to step in Louis came forwards from his position quickly. Harry hesitated by the car as the two held a quick conversation. There was no way that Liam could have worked out what they were saying, he was far too far away to overhear or even lip-read. Eventually, Harry slid his tall frame into the car and Louis returned to leaning against the wall.

Liam desperately wanted to drive up to where Louis was standing and speak to him but he shook his head at his own foolishness. He could just imagine the reaction he would receive. Another fifteen minutes went by before a car pulled up and Louis stepped out of the shadows. He moved towards the car, leant down to speak to whoever was inside and then to Liam’s complete surprise the car drove off. Louis thrust his hands into his pockets and began walking away from his spot. Liam watched in confusion. Had Louis just arranged to meet the person in the car elsewhere? It didn’t seem very likely seeing as the car had gone in the opposite direction of where Louis was now walking. Suddenly it dawned on Liam that Louis was walking in _his_ direction. He didn’t know what to do, if he started the engine to drive away now Louis would almost definitely notice him but if he remained sitting where he was he was bound to get spotted anyway.

Louis continued his walk completely obliviously and just as Liam was about to slide down in his seat, Louis veered off the main street and headed down an alleyway. Now that Louis was out of sight, Liam started the car and slowly drove round the corner. He supposed he didn’t look that out of place as his car crawled along the street. He stopped when he realised that he had found the exit of the alleyway that Louis had used and peered down the dark walkway. There was no sign of Louis so Liam looked along the street. Not far away a figure was walking along, hands in pockets, unaware that he was being followed. It soon became clear to Liam where Louis was heading and he breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself a small smile. Louis had gone back to his flat.

When he saw Louis enter his block of flats he decided to park his car further down the street and wait to see if Louis re-emerged. The rest of the night seemed to go by quickly and Liam was undeniably pleased to find that Louis didn’t go back to work. Much later he had to sink down in his seat quickly when he saw Harry accompanied by a woman that he assumed was a prostitute making their way back towards the flats. The two exchanged a hug and Harry waited as she let herself into a building slightly further along before he entered his own building and closed the door.

Liam didn’t move from his position for a long time. He was trying to figure out what had happened. He was delighted to know that Louis had given up work early for the night but he had no idea why. It didn’t really matter too much. He was just glad that he didn’t have to witness Louis going off with anyone else.

***

Nearly two weeks later Liam was working in his office. He was still busy with his investigations into the pimps working the local area but that had been put on the back burner recently as he desperately tried to track down the attacker that had been stalking the streets recently. He had piles of paperwork all over his desk and he was in the process of trying to organise the mess. As he shuffled through the paperwork he yawned widely and stopped to rub his tired eyes. He was exhausted; work was manic and he was under a lot of pressure from his senior officers to make some headway with the two cases he was juggling. In addition, he had spent several of the evenings when he wasn’t on duty driving around the street to keep an eye on Louis. However, he had soon quit that plan when he had realised that Louis didn’t seem to be going out to work anymore; at least Liam assumed that, because he never saw him standing on the street waiting for business. That was the one thing that cheered Liam up and it meant that he could attempt to get some decent sleep on his nights off. He reached for his mug of coffee, took a sip and pulled a distasteful face as he realised that it had gone cold. He stood up and stretched. He’d have to get another mug seeing as he was sure that coffee was all that was keeping him going. As he made his way towards the door of his office his partner Zayn appeared in the doorway.

“There’s been another one,” he said grimly.

Liam didn’t need any clarification about what that meant. His heart sank upon hearing Zayn’s words. He turned round and grabbed his suit jacket from the coat stand near the door. “Hospital?” he asked as he slipped his jacket on.

Zayn shook his head bleakly, “Morgue.”

Liam froze in his actions as he looked at his partner. Another death was the worst possible news. He had hoped that the first two murders had been the result of the attacker getting carried away seeing as none of the other attacks had resulted in death. Now he knew he was wrong; it had been a very thin hope to hold on to anyway. Liam rubbed his forehead and sighed in frustration as he followed Zayn out of the office.

***

Louis couldn’t believe he was actually doing something so insane. He hadn’t told Harry what he was planning because he knew his friend would freak out – ‘ _That would be the reaction of most hookers though_ ,’ Louis told himself as he looked at the imposing building before him. He hadn’t been here in a long time, in fact the last time had been when he had been arrested and first met Liam. This time he found himself voluntarily entering the police station to speak to the same man.

When Louis had heard about the most recent attack he had decided he had to speak to the detective face to face. He had called Liam to try to arrange a meeting but he got no answer so, for some reason that he didn’t understand now that he was actually here, he had decided to go down to the station. He stared at the building for a while before he swallowed thickly and entered.

As soon as he walked into the place he thought everyone would stare at him, knowing that he was a hooker but the reception area was so busy that no-one seemed to look his way. He went to the main desk and asked where he could find Detective Payne. A rather fraught looking middle-aged woman gave him directions and then went back to her duties. Louis decided to use the stairs rather than the lift for fear of being trapped in a small space with a police officer that might realise who he was, so after he made his way up flights of stairs he found himself on the fifth floor. It was slightly calmer here but still people were scurrying about busily. Louis followed the directions the receptionist had given him and eventually found himself outside a door with Liam’s name on. He knocked on the closed door and waited. “Come in,” he heard called from inside so he pushed the door open. He loitered in the open doorway until Liam looked up from his desk and realised he was there.

“Louis!” Liam said brightly. He was clearly surprised to see him at the police station. “What are you doing here?” He had stood up from his seat and walked around the desk. He walked towards Louis, pushed the door closed and gestured that Louis should take a seat. The smile on his face showed that although he was shocked, he was also pleased to see his visitor.

Louis sat down in a chair as Liam leant back against his desk in front of him. “I came to talk to you about the attacks. You know there’s been another one?”

Liam nodded, “Of course. We’re doing what we can Louis, I promise.”

“Yeah well it’s getting worse. The guy was killed this time,” Louis couldn’t hide how worried he was about the situation.

“I know,” Liam snapped, harsher than he had intended. He ran his fingers through his hair, “I don’t know what you want me to say. We’re trying to catch him but there are a lot of possible suspects out there and we’re not exactly drowning in evidence.”

Louis stared at him resolutely, “There must be _something_ you can do.”

Liam laughed bitterly as he pushed away from his desk and walked round it. He began grabbing at the piles of papers and piling them up on the other side of the desk, it was a pointless exercise but he felt so frustrated that he had to do something. Louis could sense his irritation but wasn’t going to give up. He had willingly come down here to the police station and he wasn’t going to leave without feeling better about the situation.

“What would you like us to do? We’re the police Louis. We’re not fucking magicians. We can’t wave a magic wand and catch the guy just because you want us to,” Liam said tensely.

Louis should have known in that moment that things were not going to work out well. He had hardly ever heard Liam swear before and he could tell that the detective was reaching the end of his patience.

“Maybe you could set up some sort of patrol around the area. Maybe plain-clothed officers or something,” Louis suggested.

Liam laughed again, “Yeah right. If I go to my senior officers and suggest that we waste valuable officers to protect a bunch of whores they’ll laugh in my face.” As soon as the words had left his mouth Liam wished he could take them back. He looked up from the papers in his hand and saw the look of hurt flash across Louis’ face. “Louis…” he started but Louis pushed himself out of his chair quickly and cut him off.

“I’m glad I understand how you really feel now,” was all he said before he turned and stormed out of Liam’s office.

Liam was left staring at the spot where Louis had been moments before. He couldn’t exactly run after Louis through the station. Besides what the hell did Louis want him to say? He was doing his best. He growled angrily in frustration as he threw the papers in his hand against the wall and sank into his chair.

Louis had stomped out of the police station much faster than he had entered it. He was so angry and so hurt. Liam’s comment had cut him deeply and he wanted to get away from the place as fast as he could. Even as he stormed along the street he hoped that Liam might come running after him and apologise but then he cursed himself for being so stupid and thinking that Liam would actually care enough to do that.

He had been such a fool. How had he allowed himself to believe that Liam was any different to all the other cops? Liam obviously viewed the hookers, including Louis, with the same disdain that all the other police officers did. He obviously thought that they were worthless and that they didn’t deserve help, in fact he probably thought that they were getting what they deserved when they were attacked on the streets. Part of Louis was telling himself that he was wrong, that Liam was a decent guy and that he hadn’t meant what he’d said to sound so harsh. Part of him was desperately trying to remind him of all the caring things that Liam had done since he’d met him but Louis was so angry that he couldn’t see past how Liam had reacted moments ago.

Louis felt like an idiot. Hadn’t Harry warned him that they were all the same? He’d told him not to get too close to Liam and now look what had happened.

He didn’t go home; instead he stomped to a nearby park and threw himself down onto a bench. He sat there for a long time going over what had happened. He kept replaying Liam’s words in his mind and the more he heard them the angrier he became. It was getting late when Louis decided to move. He pushed away from the bench and set off stomping along again. He wasn’t heading back to the flat, he was heading to the street. He hadn’t worked in nearly two weeks. He had been getting by on the little money that he had saved up for emergencies. But now he reasoned that there was no point in him not working. He hadn’t been turning tricks because of Liam and now he had realised that Liam didn’t care about him he had no reason to stay away.

Harry was more than a little surprised when Louis showed up beside him in their usual spot.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he smiled in confusion.

“Working,” Louis replied bluntly.

Harry continued to stare at him, “ _Why_?”

“Well I’m a _whore_ aren’t I? I suppose I should be whoring myself out,” Louis said bitterly, refusing to meet Harry’s eyes.

Harry raised his eyebrows, “What’s wrong Lou? I didn’t think you wanted to do this anymore.”

Louis finally looked at his friend, “You were right Haz.”

Harry shook his head in uncertainty; he didn’t know what he was right about.

“About Liam. You said he’d be just like the rest of them and you were right,” Louis told him.

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Surely Louis couldn’t be talking about the same man that he had spoken so fondly about. Even Harry had begun to warm to the detective. “What’s happened?” Harry asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Louis said quietly. “He’s an arsehole and I never want to see him again. It’s time I got back to normal.”

Harry suddenly realised how upset Louis looked and he decided it was best not to push the conversation. He wrapped his arm around Louis’ shoulders, “You’ve always got me Lou. I’m sure that makes you feel loads better.”

Louis smiled weakly at Harry’s attempt at cheering him up. Right now he wasn’t sure that anything would make him feel better.

It wasn’t long before a car pulled up in front of Louis and Harry. Immediately, Harry knew that it was one of his regulars but he hung back next to Louis.

“Lou, if you’d rather we just went home and talked about what’s happened, I don’t mind,” he said as he smiled gently at his friend.

Louis shook his head and tried to look like he was fine, “Nah. Don’t worry about me. It’s like you said, ‘I’ve gotta get back on the horse’. I’ll be okay.”

Harry looked at him for a long moment as though deciding whether he really was okay to be left, then he smiled and nodded slightly before getting into the car.

Louis felt his shoulders sag as soon as the car disappeared down the street. What was he doing? He was debating whether or not he should head for home when a car pulled up beside him. It wasn’t a car that Louis recognised but he knew that most of his regulars had probably given up on him by now. He was going to have to start from scratch building up his regular johns again. That thought made him feel even more resentment towards Liam and he held onto that as he leant down to speak with the driver of the car. He was a smart enough looking guy, probably late-twenties but most importantly he looked clean. Louis actually felt quite satisfied as he slid into the passenger seat.

“Do you know where you’re going?” he asked as he looked the man over.

“Yeah, I know a place,” the stranger replied as he smiled at Louis.

A little further along the street the man pulled over and stopped the car. He then climbed out and walked to a dimly lit alleyway. Louis followed him. He stood in front of the man and raised his eyebrow confidently, “What’ll it be?”

“I want to fuck you,” the man growled as he grabbed Louis’ shoulders and pushed him back towards the wall. He began pulling Louis’ denim jacket down his arms.

“It’s a hundred quid,” Louis told him, “I need to see the money.”

“You’ll get what’s coming to you,” the man said continuing to work Louis’ jacket down his arms.

Louis pushed back against him as best as he could with his arms now restrained, “Money first.”

The man looked at Louis through narrowed eyes and licked his lips. Then, from out of nowhere, he punched Louis hard in the face. Louis had no defence as his arms were trapped by his sides by his jacket and his head snapped to the side sharply. The man immediately pushed him to the floor and managed to pull the jacket off him and throw it to the side, “I told you, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

‘ _Fuck, fuck, fuck; you are so dead_ ,’ Louis’ mind was screaming at him. His arms were free from the jacket now though so he lashed out wildly at the man that was now straddling him. He managed to hit the guy in the face and he struggled to push himself upright.

The man grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down again. “You fucking slut, this is what you want, why bother fighting it? It’s what you deserve like all the others.”

Several blows landed on Louis’ face and he could taste the bitter tang of blood in his mouth but still he struggled against the man. He was on his back with his attacker sitting on top of him. He was already struggling to breathe when he felt a large hand wrap around his neck and start to squeeze. He became aware that the man’s other hand was fumbling at the fastenings on his jeans and he squeezed his eyes shut. His right arm was desperately scratching at the man’s hand around his neck, trying to break his hold, but his left hand was reaching out blindly feeling for the material of his jacket. He patted the ground frantically until his fingers brushed against the fabric. He tugged it towards himself and without being able to see anything and with breathing becoming more difficult by the second, he felt around until his fingers closed around a small cylindrical object. Within seconds he pulled it from the pocket of his jacket and popped the lid off the canister of pepper spray with his thumb. Then he moved his hand so that it was close to his attacker’s face and pressed the spray with his thumb.

The man screamed out in shock and pain and fell backwards away from Louis, clawing at his eyes. Unfortunately, using the spray in such close proximity meant that some of it ended up in Louis’ own eyes but at that moment he didn’t care. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could and began trying to move towards the entrance of the alleyway.

He could hardly see, he was gasping for air to reach his lungs and his head was pounding but he forced himself to move. If he stopped now, he would probably die. He nearly made it to the end of the alleyway when he felt a hand twist in his hair and pull him backwards sharply. He yelled out as yet more pain shot through his head. The next thing he knew, he was being slammed into the wall. His head bounced sickeningly off the bricks and he fell to the floor. Through blurry eyes he could make out the figure of the man still rubbing at his eyes before he kicked Louis twice in the stomach, spat at him and staggered back towards his car.

It was over. As Louis lay on the floor of the cold alley he could feel warmth dribbling down his neck. He knew it was his own blood but he couldn’t move. The pain in his head was unbearable. His vision was becoming darker. It was over. The only comfort he had was knowing that he hadn’t gone down without a fight. At least he had given that sick bastard something to remember him by. He couldn’t hold his eyes open anymore, everything hurt too much. It was over.                   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I think I'm going to go and hide...


	5. Chapter 5

Liam was in a less than radiant mood. The incident with Louis from the previous afternoon had resulted in a night of angrily tossing and turning and getting very little sleep. His initial thought on the situation had been that Louis had over-reacted to what he had said but the more he had gone over the conversation, the more he had regretted the things he had said. He had never intended to upset Louis; he was just so stressed at work and unfortunately Louis had been there at the wrong moment so had been on the receiving end of his frustration. Liam had considered going round to Louis’ flat when he left work to apologise. But then he had decided that it would probably be better to give Louis some space to calm down; as much as he wanted to say sorry, he didn’t feel like being shouted at and having a door slammed in his face.

So as his shift ended he had wearily driven home and replayed the conversation over and over in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he realised why Louis had stormed out of his office. He had never spoken to him so harshly before; he liked to think that he had never treated Louis like a prostitute before but now he felt like he had let him down. He winced as he recalled how he had snapped at Louis. All evening he wondered whether he should go to find Louis but he talked himself out of it. Maybe he was afraid that Louis would say he never wanted to see him again.

His night had been terrible; he picked at his dinner, eventually giving up and throwing most of it in the bin, then he tried to get his head around some case details that he had brought home but couldn’t focus on what he was reading.

It was late when he finally went up to bed but, even there, he got no respite. He stared at the ceiling for hours, he threw himself around trying to get comfortable, he growled in frustration as he got tangled up in the covers and at some point in the early hours of the morning he gave up trying to sleep. He had only managed to drift off for a few hours but he knew it was a waste of time trying anymore. He dragged himself out of his messed up bed and decided to go for a run instead. Then he returned, got showered and dressed and headed into work early to try to make some headway on his cases.

Liam’s mood had already been dark but it had been made positively black when Zayn had appeared at his door and told him that there had been another attack. Liam had been stunned to hear the news. There was usually quite a gap between the timings of the attacks but this one had come so suddenly after the previous one. Maybe the attacker was getting more confident seeing as the police weren’t getting any closer to catching him. Liam shuddered at the thought. The idea that such a man was becoming even more active didn’t bear thinking about.

There was a frown fixed to Liam’s face as he followed Zayn down to the garage to drive to the hospital to see the latest victim. On the way he made up his mind that he would go to visit Louis during his lunch break. He knew that he was going to have to apologise and he wasn’t willing to wait any longer than he had to now. He kept telling himself that he should have gone last night but there was no point dwelling on what he should or could have done differently.

When the two detectives arrived at the hospital they immediately located the doctor that had treated the latest victim.

“He’s in a bad way,” the doctor told them sombrely. “He’s been severely beaten and has a concussion. He’s in and out of consciousness. There is some good news though; he hasn’t been sexually assaulted.”

Liam and Zayn nodded grimly at the news. It was a small comfort but certainly an interesting twist on the usual nature of the attacks. It would be useful to find out what had made this attack different to the others.

“He’s probably asleep now, but you can take a look in if you like,” the doctor told them. She pointed to the curtained area that shielded the victim from view and left them to it.

The two detectives made their way towards the curtains and Zayn pulled them apart. Both of them stepped forward into the area but Liam immediately staggered to an abrupt halt. He gasped loudly as he realised who was lying in the hospital bed. It had taken a moment for him to realise that it was Louis but once he did he felt the bile rise up inside him.

Louis was hardly recognisable; his brown hair was mostly covered by a white bandage that tightly encircled his head, angry black bruises marred both sides of his face, his bottom lip was swollen and split and his skin was a sickly pale shade.

Liam took a hesitant step towards the bed to closer examine him. He desperately wanted to touch Louis’ arm just to let him know that he was there but as he took another step he was snapped from the moment by Zayn’s voice.

“Well there’s nothing we can do ‘til he wakes up so let’s go wait outside.”

Liam spun round to look at his partner but Zayn was already walking out between the curtains. With one last pained look at the injured figure on the bed Liam followed his partner silently. He couldn’t name the emotions that were flooding through him. He felt wretched. He felt like he needed to be sick. He was so angry that he wanted to punch the nearest wall. The thought that some sick bastard had done this to Louis filled him with rage. And there, lingering in the background, was a feeling of terrible guilt. If he had gone to find Louis last night this might not have happened, if he hadn’t said those things to Louis and upset him this might not have happened.

“ _You_! You’ve got a fucking nerve showing your face here!”

Liam was shaken from his agonizing thoughts by a voice shouting at him.

“I hope you know that this is all your fault! He was only out there because of _you_!”

Then Zayn’s voice cut in, “You need to calm yourself down unless you want to get yourself arrested.”

Liam watched in a daze as Zayn stood before him blocking an irate Harry, who was still shouting at him and jabbing his finger towards him angrily. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say quietly. “I didn’t know that this would happen.”

Zayn looked at him sharply in confusion.

Harry suddenly seemed a lot calmer. “He hadn’t worked in weeks because of you. Then you upset him and he’s back on the street and just _look_ what’s happened. He could have been killed…he nearly was.”

Liam flinched at hearing that. He didn’t know what he could say to Louis’ best friend who was clearly so distressed by the situation.

“I suggest you go and sit with your friend,” Zayn said to Harry. He turned towards Liam, “You and I need to go have a chat”

Liam nodded slowly. He looked at Harry sadly before following his partner to an empty room down the hall.

“What the hell was that all about?” Zayn demanded as soon as the door was closed. “And don’t give me any bullshit Liam. Something’s been weird with you for weeks and it’s time you told me the truth.”

Liam sighed deeply as he sat down on the edge of the windowsill. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and ran his hand through his hair before looking up at his partner.

“I know the prostitute that’s been attacked. His name is Louis. He’s been helping me – getting information for me to help with the case.”

Zayn looked at him steadily, “Okay so why was that guy freaking out so much just now?”

Liam sighed again, “I guess…well…me and Louis have been getting to know one another better.”

“Jesus Christ, have you been _fucking_ him?” Zayn exploded.

“No!” Liam immediately responded, “Nothing like that. We’ve been meeting up. At first it was just for him to give me information that he had found out, but recently it’s been…I don’t know what it’s been. It’s been different.”

It was Zayn’s turn to sigh as he sat down on the empty bed in the room. “So, it’s become more than a professional relationship then?”

Liam hesitated, “Yes. Nothing’s happened like _that._ But yes, it’s developed into something else…I like him. I feel more for him than I probably should.” He felt an odd sense of release to finally say it out loud even though it could cost him dearly.

“Shit Liam,” Zayn breathed. “You know I should report this to the chief? You shouldn’t be on this case.”

“I know Zayn. But please, please don’t. I need to do this. I need to catch the bastard that’s done this and not just because of how I feel about Louis. Please don’t tell anyone, not yet anyway. When it’s done you can report me but just not yet.”

“I said I ‘ _should’_ report you, not that I was going to,” Zayn smiled slightly at his partner. “You’ve been my friend for years. You’ve stuck by me through everything and I’ll stick by you through this, even if I do think you’re fucking insane.”

Liam actually let out a small laugh at his friend’s comment, “Thanks man. I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah well just be careful okay?” Zayn told him. “You better take a minute to calm down, you look like you’re about to puke. I’ll go and speak to the doctor and find out if there’s any point in us hanging around.”

Zayn walked out of the room and left Liam to regain his composure. There was no way that he was going to be able to reign in the anger and upset that he felt about what had happened but at least he could take a moment to calm down in private. Harry had blamed him for what had happened. He had said that Louis was only working because of what Liam had done. The thought of that made Liam hate himself. How was he ever going to make things alright with Louis now?

Zayn returned after a few minutes to tell him that the doctor had said that they should come back later when Louis had had more time to rest and hopefully then he would be able to speak to them. Liam simultaneously dreaded and looked forward to returning. He was desperate to know exactly what had happened to Louis but at the same time he didn’t want to hear that story. He was also afraid of how Louis would react to seeing him but he knew he had to face it. He felt like he deserved whatever was coming to him.

***

Several hours later the two detectives arrived back at the hospital. Zayn had asked Liam constantly whether he really wanted to be there whilst Louis was interviewed and Liam had resolutely said that he had to be. As they approached the curtain for the second time that day Liam took a deep breath and prepared himself for seeing Louis in such a state again. Zayn pulled back the screen and they both stepped forward.

Louis was propped up in his bed now and he was awake. He turned to look at the two new arrivals but no shock at seeing Liam registered on his face. ‘ _Harry must have told him that we were here earlier_ ,’ Liam thought to himself. Liam struggled to look at Louis; he was still finding it hard to deal with seeing him so badly beaten. Glancing around the room to try to look anywhere else for a moment, his eyes landed on Harry who was glaring at him with obvious mistrust. He half expected Louis’ best friend to start yelling at him again so he was surprised when he received nothing but a scowl to let him know what Harry was thinking.

Finally Liam looked back at Louis. It was difficult to see the person that Liam had grown to care for behind all the bruises and bandages. Louis looked exhausted and defeated. Lying in that hospital bed he had none of the confidence or bravado that Liam was used to seeing. There was silence for a while before Zayn finally spoke.

“Louis, I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Detective Zayn Malik and you already know Liam.” At those words, some minute flash of surprise flickered in Louis’ eyes before he continued to listen to Zayn speaking. “We were hoping that you would talk to us about what happened to you last night.”

Louis looked at Zayn steadily for a moment. Even after what had happened with Liam he was willing to help them, besides he didn’t have the energy to argue with them. “Sure,” he said quietly.

Both Zayn and Liam were surprised by Louis’ easy agreement. They had been sure that they would encounter some resistance especially after what had gone on between Louis and Liam the previous day. “Oh okay, well thank you Louis. If you’d like to start at the beginning,” Zayn said as he took out a small voice recorder from his jacket pocket and took a step closer.

Louis licked his dry lips slowly and carefully. He winced when his tongue grazed the cut on his lower lip but then he began to speak. He described his evening, leaving out the reasons why he had chosen to go back to work. Liam was relieved to hear that the attacker was the first customer that Louis had encountered that evening but he found himself clenching his fists as Louis explained how the man had picked him up and taken him to the alley. His fingernails dug into his palms painfully when Louis began to recount how the man had hit him and assaulted him.

“I managed to get him off me and tried to get to the end of the alley,” Louis said hoarsely.

Zayn looked a little puzzled at that point. From what Louis had said so far his attacker had been in complete control of the situation, dominating Louis and keeping him down on the ground. “How did you manage to get him off you?” he asked.

Louis’ eyes flicked towards Liam momentarily, he took a deep breath and then answered, “I had some pepper spray in my jacket pocket. I managed to reach it and spray it in his face.”

Liam’s eyes widened. The terrible thought that if he hadn’t given Louis that canister he might have ended up raped or dead flashed into his mind. It was too awful to imagine. At first Zayn wondered how Louis had come to have pepper spray but he soon realised as he looked between his partner and Louis.

The interview continued until Louis had nothing else to tell them. It had been one of the worst recounts that Liam had ever listened to. All he wanted to do was sit with Louis and apologise but he knew that wasn’t an option right now.

Zayn was all professional, thanking Louis for his help and wishing him a speedy recovery. He turned to Liam and raised his eyebrows as if saying ‘it’s time to go’. Liam realised that he hadn’t actually spoken the whole time he had been near Louis. He didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth as though he was about to speak but then closed it again. Harry was still glaring at him with his arms folded across his chest. Louis didn’t look at him, he just stared at his hands in his lap. Liam shook his head sadly and walked through the curtains.

***

Liam had another restless night and the reason for it was obvious. He had never felt so terrible in all his life. He blamed himself for what had happened and the guilt was torturing him. In addition to that, he was now even more determined to catch the man responsible for the attacks. When he arrived at work, early again, he threw himself into the case. He went over the limited evidence they had and added Louis’ statement to it. He spent hours organising what they had and cross-referencing the details with any other attacks that had occurred recently or in nearby areas.

After several hours he felt like he was making good progress and was pleased to be doing something constructive. However, he still had his biggest challenge ahead of him. He had decided that he was going to the hospital when his shift ended to speak to Louis. He couldn’t leave it. He had to say his piece and if Louis told him to ‘fuck off’ he would have to accept it but at least he would have tried.

***

As Liam made his way along the corridor in the hospital he found that he was psyching himself up for the task. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so worried about something. Maybe that was because nothing had mattered to him as much as this in a long time. When he reached the curtain surrounding Louis’ bed he paused for a moment before reaching forward and pulling the curtains apart slightly. As he stepped through the gap he immediately saw that Louis was out of his bed and fully dressed. He had his back to Liam as he focused on something on his hospital bed.

“Louis? What are you doing up?” Liam realised that he should have given Louis some indication of his presence when the other man jumped visibly at the sound of Liam’s voice behind him. He turned quickly to face Liam but then wobbled slightly. Liam instinctively moved forward to support him but Louis flinched away from him choosing to lean against the bed instead.

When Louis had regained his balance he stared at Liam blankly. “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.

Everything that Liam had rehearsed in the car on the way to the hospital had been forgotten as soon as he had laid eyes on Louis. He stumbled over his words as he tried to find the right thing to say. “I wanted to…well I didn’t get chance to talk to you before and…I had to come and see you.”

Louis didn’t show any sign of being grateful for Liam’s visit. Instead he turned back to the bed and carried on with what he was doing. Liam wasn’t willing to be ignored though so he moved around to the opposite side of the bed. As soon as he faced Louis, he realised what he was doing. He had an old backpack in-front of him on the bed and he was putting a set of dirty clothes into the bag.

“What’s going on Louis? Why are you out of bed?” Liam asked.

“I’m leaving,” Louis replied simply.

“Leaving?” Liam echoed. “You hardly look like you should be going anywhere.”

Louis looked up at him sharply. “Yeah, well the doctor said I was well enough to leave. Besides I don’t suppose they want some _whore_ taking up a valuable bed.”

That stung. Liam knew he had that comment coming. He wasn’t going to be pushed away though and he took his opportunity to apologise. “Louis, I’m so sorry about what I said the other day. I never meant to hurt you. It was just a stupid comment that slipped out before my mouth had chance to catch up to my brain. I understand if you don’t want to see me again but I had to tell you that I was sorry. I had to come and see you, not just as a cop but as someone who cares about you.”

For the first time Liam didn’t feel uncomfortable about showing that he cared for Louis. He stopped talking and waited for the angry tirade that he had been expecting from Louis since he had first arrived.

Surprisingly enough, Louis didn’t shout; he didn’t even speak. He just looked at Liam in disbelief. He was struggling to take in what Liam had just said. He blinked rapidly a few times before he picked the bag up off the bed.

“What you said in your office…” he trailed off and didn’t seem to know how to finish the sentence. He looked as though he was about to admit something before he cleared his throat and continued, “I appreciate you coming down here. You didn’t have to.” He paused and stared at Liam for a moment before looking down at his feet. “I have to get going. I’ll maybe see you around.” With that he began moving past Liam and out into the corridor.

Liam remained where he was for a moment. He was stunned. Anger was what he had been expecting but instead he had been met by, well he wasn’t entirely sure what he had been met by. Was it forgiveness, or acceptance of the situation? He shook his head and followed Louis out into the hallway. He caught up and walked alongside him. It was slow progress seeing as Louis was limping along and struggling to walk in a straight line. Liam received an almost wary look as he asked, “Where are you going?”

Louis raised his eyebrows as he replied simply, “Home.”

“How are you going to get home?” Liam continued questioning him.

Louis seemed to be intensely focused on walking down the corridor so he didn’t look at Liam as he answered, “I was planning to walk but now I’m thinking that I’ll wait for the bus.”

“You can’t!” Liam blurted out which caused Louis to stop abruptly and look at him in confusion. They stood facing one another in the hallway as Liam continued to speak, “You can hardly even walk straight, you’re not going to be able to stand up and wait for a bus. Let me give you a ride.”

Louis shook his head slowly, “I don’t think that that’s a very good idea.”

“Why not?” Liam asked immediately.

“I just don’t. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Louis told him.

“Please let me do this for you. It’s the least I can do. If you won’t let me give you a ride, I’ll have to come on the bus with you and then come back for my car later. I can’t let you go on your own, you’re not in any fit state,” Liam said with a small hopeful smile on his face.

Louis knew that he wasn’t going to win this discussion. Liam was clearly determined to help him even if he didn’t want him to. He sighed deeply in defeat, “Fine you can give me a ride home.”

Pleased that Louis had agreed, Liam smiled and led him down to his car.

***

Conversation during the journey had been limited. Louis didn’t seem particularly willing to talk and Liam had desperately tried to think of ways to fill the silence. After discussing the state of the traffic, the weather and the song that was on the radio he was struggling. They arrived outside Louis’ building and both men were pleased to get out of the car. Louis stopped as he looked at Liam standing beside his car looking expectant.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said as he began walking towards the door of the building. He turned around when he realised that Liam was following him. “What are you doing?”

Liam smiled slightly, “I’m coming with you to make sure you make it up the stairs alright.”

“You’ve done enough,” Louis said firmly. “I’ll be fine.” He hoped that would be enough to stop Liam but as he climbed the few steps outside the building he swayed slightly on his feet and suddenly Liam was beside him holding his arm.

“This is why I’m coming with you,” Liam said simply.

Louis might have scowled petulantly at the detective if he’d had the energy but all he wanted to do was lie down. He hadn’t realised how exhausted he would feel.

After several stops on the stairs on the way up to the flat Louis and Liam finally made it. Louis opened the door and stepped in to the familiar space. Unsurprisingly, Liam followed him in, looking around as he entered. “Where’s Harry?” he asked.

“Working,” Louis replied. “He can’t afford to have any more time off.”

Liam looked at him sharply, “So if Harry’s at work you’re going to be here alone?”

Louis nodded.

“Well you can’t stay on your own,” Liam told him. “You have a concussion, you need someone to keep an eye on you.”

Louis shook his head immediately but then wished he hadn’t when he felt nauseous at the action. “Don’t really have much choice. I’ll be fine.” He felt like he had repeated that phrase a hundred times since Liam had turned up at the hospital.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you here on your own. I’ll stay,” Liam said like it was the most obvious solution to the problem.

“No way!” Louis retorted. “You can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” Liam asked, completely oblivious to what the problem was.

Louis stuttered over his answer, trying to come up with a valid reason. He eventually settled on one. “Because Harry will come back and go mental if he finds you in his flat.”

Liam nodded thoughtfully, “Well you should come stay at my place for the night then.” The way he said it made it sound like such an obvious plan.

Louis’ mouth actually hung open at the suggestion. He was sure that Liam had lost his mind and waited for him to suddenly realise what he had said and run out of the door. Liam didn’t move. He just waited for Louis to respond to his idea.

“You can’t be serious,” Louis eventually said.

“I don’t see the problem. It makes sense to me,” Liam replied.

“But…” Louis couldn’t seem to think of a way to argue with Liam.

“Look, it’s either I stay here and Harry freaks out when he gets back, or you come to mine and you let me take care of you,” Liam explained when he realised that Louis was struggling to think of a reasonable argument.

The idea of someone looking after him sounded pretty appealing if Louis was honest to himself, the idea of feeling safe and protected was also beginning to sway him. He was also so tired that he really didn’t think he could continue this discussion for much longer and he certainly didn’t think he could deal with Harry and Liam having a blazing row in the early hours of the morning. He decided to agree to Liam’s unusual suggestion. “Alright, I’ll come with you. I’ll need to get some stuff together.”

Liam smiled brightly as he watched Louis disappear into one of the bedrooms to gather some of his belongings. He couldn’t believe that he had actually won and Louis had agreed to go with him.

It didn’t take long before Louis reappeared in the living area with the backpack, looking a lot fuller now. He moved to the table and grabbed a scrap of paper to scrawl Harry a message about where he was and to let him know that he didn’t need to worry. He attached the paper to the front of the refrigerator with a magnet and turned to face Liam.

Liam couldn’t help but think how tired and lost Louis looked standing there covered in bruises and bandages and he berated himself silently again for letting something like this happen. “Ready?” he asked simply.

Louis nodded once and slowly followed Liam out of the flat.


	6. Chapter 6

During the journey to Liam’s house, Louis had struggled to keep his eyes open. The steady rhythm of the car began to rock him into a comfortable sleepy state. However, when he felt the car come to a final stop as Liam drove it onto his driveway, Louis felt himself suddenly become very alert. He peered out of the windscreen to look at Liam’s home before opening his door and climbing out carefully.

Liam waited for him at the front of the car, then led him to the front door. Louis inspected the front of the property, fascinated to be seeing the place where Liam lived. It suddenly became clear to Louis the dramatic difference between his own life and Liam’s. This house was the perfect example of that. Liam was clearly well paid if he could afford to live in such an attractive house in such a desirable area. It had never really occurred to Louis before; he hadn’t given much thought to Liam’s life outside work but now he was confronted by the reality.

Liam closed the door when Louis had entered the house and threw his car keys onto the table near the door. Louis watched as Liam walked into the living room. He followed him and looked around the area absorbing everything about the place. The living room was spacious and comfortably furnished, and led into a kitchen area that looked like it was half-way through being decorated. Suddenly, an image of Liam in old clothes, covered with splatters of paint appeared in Louis’ mind and he smiled slightly to himself.

Liam was busy scooping up paperwork off the floor and the coffee table and collecting used mugs when he looked up at Louis. “Sorry about the mess,” he said as he looked around, almost guiltily. “I’m usually pretty organised but I’ve not had much chance to tidy up recently. Been really busy with work.”

Louis smiled at him gently, “Don’t worry about it. You’ve seen where I live. This is like a palace compared to that.”

Liam actually blushed slightly at the comment before he disappeared into the kitchen with his arms full of the clutter that he had collected. Louis continued to gaze around the room. There were several photograph frames on shelves in the corner and Louis was more than a little curious about the pictures that were inside them. He hoped that he would have chance to get a closer look before he had to leave.

The most attractive feature of the living room to Louis was the comfortable looking sofa that seemed to be beckoning to him. All he wanted was to flop down onto it, rest his aching body and hopefully not have to move for a few hours. He didn’t feel comfortable with doing that though until Liam had suggested it so he remained loitering in the middle of the room until Liam reappeared. He took one look at Louis standing there awkwardly and said, “Looks like you should sit down before you fall down.”

Louis didn’t need telling twice and he carefully moved to sit down on the sofa. Liam studied him for a moment. “Can I get you anything? Something to eat, a drink?”

“A glass of water would be good thanks,” Louis said quietly. He wasn’t sure how to accept all this being taken care of. Sure, Harry had looked after him when he was ill but this was different.

Liam disappeared again and Louis continued his visual tour of the living room. There was still paperwork lying around the place and take-away containers were scattered amongst it. Liam had obviously been doing a lot of work at home in his ‘free’ time. The room had the feeling of needing a good clean-up, something that Liam clearly didn’t have time for at the moment. Somehow Louis liked that though, it made him feel more comfortable. If he’d walked into some pristine sparkling residence he would have felt completely out of place and afraid to touch anything.

Liam came back into the living room carrying a glass of water and a box of painkillers. “I thought you might want a couple of these,” he said as he set them down on the coffee table.

The look on Louis’ face was hard for Liam to comprehend. It was a mixture of surprise, gratitude and curiosity.

“I think you missed your true calling in life,” Louis eventually said as he leant forward to pick up the glass.

Liam raised his eyebrows questioningly. Louis smiled in response before he continued, “You should have been a nurse seeing as you love bringing people medicine so much.”

Liam laughed at Louis’ cheeky comment and suddenly felt a lot more relaxed about the whole situation. He had been wondering whether he had made a mistake in bringing Louis home with him but any doubts in his mind seemed to be erased by such a simple comment. If Louis could joke around with him he was sure things would be alright.

Liam offered to make them something to eat. At first Louis had refused, not wanting to put Liam to any more trouble, but Liam managed to convince him and disappeared into the kitchen. Louis could feel himself beginning to drift again and battled against the urge. He was relieved when Liam returned to the living room carrying two plates of steaming pasta.

“It’s not much,” Liam told him as he handed him a plate. “I wasn’t expecting company so there’s not much in. I’ve been living off take-aways for the last week.”

Louis shook his head, “This is fine, thank you.”

Liam smiled and they slipped into silence as they began to eat.

After a while, Louis placed his fork down on the plate and looked at Liam steadily. As Liam looked up from his meal, they made eye contact and he knew that Louis was going to say something.

“Why did you bring me here?” Louis asked.

Liam had known that the question would eventually be asked but hadn’t expected it quite so soon. He knew what his answer was but he was still caught a little off-guard. He too placed his fork down and put his plate on the coffee table. Then he returned Louis’ steady gaze for a moment before he replied.

“I brought you here because I wanted to. I want to look after you. I feel responsible for what happened to you. Harry said that you hadn’t been working but then I was a dick and you went back. If it wasn’t for me being an idiot and letting myself get so stressed out, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

Louis looked as though he was about to interrupt but Liam continued before he had a chance. “It’s not only that though. Yes, I feel bad but that’s not the only reason. Since I’ve been getting to know you I don’t look at you as just an informant. I see you as more than that – much more. I’ve never felt so awful as I did when I walked in and saw you in that hospital bed. I want to help you get better. I want to take care of you. But I also like being around you.”

Louis was staring at Liam wide eyed now. He had listened intently to what Liam had said and was now trying to absorb what the words meant. He didn’t know what to say.

Liam looked a little sheepish now that he had finally said his piece and he shuffled in his seat. Maybe he had said too much but he felt relieved to have actually said what he was feeling. He was about to go and clear away the dishes just to interrupt the silence when Louis spoke.

“I don’t blame you for what happened to me you know. I was upset by what you said but I guess I took it too much to heart. I know that you were stressed out, I could tell that as soon as we started talking but I kept pushing for some solution from you. What you said…well it stung I guess. That word kind of reinforces everything I hate about myself and hearing it from you…well it hurt. But I shouldn’t have over-reacted and stormed out like I did. I definitely shouldn’t have gone back to work. It’s stupid really, I was thinking about leaving when that creep pulled up. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is you don’t need to feel bad about what happened; it’s not your fault.”

Liam grunted slightly. He appreciated what Louis had said but he wasn’t going to forgive himself that easily. “I should have come after you when you left or come to find you later on instead of skulking around here feeling shitty about it.”

Louis shook his head but smiled slightly, “You’re not going to let yourself off the hook are you?”

“No,” Liam stated simply, but he smiled a small smile too.

Louis laughed a little. “Fine. But can we at least agree to not keep going over it and trying to decide who was the most to blame for what happened? We were both in the wrong, how does that suit you?”

Liam shrugged his shoulders, “Alright then.”

Silence descended again but it was comfortable. After a while Liam moved from his seat to gather the dishes to clear up. Louis offered to help but Liam dismissed the offer immediately. He walked towards the large flat screen TV and turned it on. He handed the remote to Louis before he picked up the plates and began walking towards the kitchen. Just as he was about to disappear from sight, Louis called out to him. Liam turned round with his hands full of dishes and looked at him.

“When you said that you liked being around me…I like being around you too,” Louis told him.

Liam smiled widely. He didn’t need to say anything. It was obvious that he was pleased to hear Louis’ words. He turned away from Louis and continued into the kitchen.

Louis sank down further into the sofa. His body was still aching all over and he had been battling the desire to fall asleep since he had sat down. He felt much more relaxed after his conversation with Liam and, with the low background noise coming from the TV, he actually allowed his eyes to fall shut.  

***

Louis wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he next opened his eyes. He probably wouldn’t have woken up at all if it hadn’t been for a persistent low voice invading his sleeping brain. He woke up slowly and looked around blearily. It took him a moment to remember where he was but when he saw Liam leaning forwards from his chair smiling softly at him it all came back to him. He blinked at Liam a few times as he tried to drag himself back into wakefulness.

“I’m sorry that I woke you,” Liam said quietly. “I shouldn’t have let you fall asleep down here in the first place really. You need to get some decent sleep in a proper bed instead of on the sofa.”

Louis yawned widely before he could stop himself and then slowly pushed himself into a more upright position. He winced as the action pulled on his bruised abdomen.

“Do you think you can make it up the stairs or do I need to carry you?” Liam smiled playfully.

Louis scowled but couldn’t help the small smile that played on his lips. “I can walk,” he said simply.

Liam stood up and waited for Louis to do the same. All of Louis’ movements were slow and careful and Liam waited patiently for him.

Eventually, after what seemed like a never-ending flight of stairs to Louis, they reached the upstairs of the house. Liam slowly led Louis down the hallway. Even in his sleepy state, Louis was curious as to what was in each room. However, he didn’t have the energy to take everything in and he had to concentrate on his steady progress behind Liam. They passed two bedrooms and a bathroom but Louis didn’t pay much attention until Liam pushed open a half-closed door and flicked on a light in the room. Liam stepped into the room and Louis followed him in, then stopped as he looked around the bedroom.

This room was clearly the best kept room in the house. There was none of the untidy clutter or mess from downstairs in this room. It was perfectly neat and ordered. A king-size bed covered in black bedding backed onto a wall painted in a dark bluish-grey colour. The other walls were a much lighter shade of the same paint creating a calm colour scheme. On the wall opposite from the bed there was a closed door that Louis assumed was an en-suite bathroom. A few canvas prints hung on the walls but other than that there was very little ornamentation in the room. Louis scanned the room before looking back at the massive, comfortable bed. It looked so appealing to him that he actually wanted to walk up to it and flop down immediately but something held him back. This bedroom was far too stylish to simply be guest accommodation.

“This is your room, isn’t it?” he asked as he looked at Liam.

Liam smiled a little sheepishly. He was hoping that Louis wouldn’t have realised. Inviting Louis to stay with him wasn’t something that he had planned; it had been an impulse decision. Caught up in the moment he had completely forgotten that his spare room was currently a dumping ground for everything that he didn’t have time to organise or put away. He was usually a tidy person who hated mess but recently he had been so busy that things had got on top of him. The other spare room was set up as an office space, although he had taken to spreading his paperwork out all over the floor in the living room in the last few weeks. He could hardly tell Louis that there was nowhere for him to sleep now that he had brought him here so had decided that the only option would be for Louis to have his bed.

“It _is_ my room,” Liam replied. “But the spare room’s a disaster zone so you can stay in here.”

Louis shook his head quickly, “I can’t. I can’t kick you out of your own room.”

He began backing out of the room but Liam reached out and touched his arm gently. Their eyes met and Liam smiled softly, “You aren’t kicking me out. I’m offering it to you. I want you to stay here.”

Louis was still shaking his head, “But where are you going to sleep?”

Liam shrugged, “On the sofa. I’ll be fine.”

Louis looked sceptical but the exhaustion that he was feeling was beginning to win the battle. He couldn’t stand there arguing for much longer.

Liam began to move towards the door. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. Get some rest.” He smiled again and moved out of the room completely.

Louis turned and watched him disappear down the stairs. Then he turned back to face the welcoming bed. He pushed the door to but didn’t close it completely then toed his shoes off. His limbs felt like dead weights and his eyes were drooping as he shuffled across the room towards the bed. He didn’t even have the energy to take off his clothes as he lay down on top of the covers on the bed. Nothing could have kept him awake at that moment. His eyes closed instantly and he gave into his exhaustion. He was asleep within minutes.    

***

During the night Liam silently made his way up the stairs several times to check on Louis. He was pleased to find that the bedroom door had been left slightly ajar so he could push it open and walk in without disturbing him. At first he had been concerned to find Louis fully clothed, sleeping on top of the covers but he knew there was nothing to worry about when he saw how peaceful the other man looked. It had been obvious that Louis was completely drained by his experiences so Liam was just relieved to find that he was able to get some decent sleep, even if he wasn’t actually _in_ the bed.

The following morning Liam was busy trying to tidy up his kitchen without making too much noise. He had never realised that washing the dishes was nearly impossible to do in silence. When he had jobs to do in the house, such as the decorating in the kitchen that he knew needed to be finished, he usually put his music on loudly to fill the somewhat lonely silence. This morning though he had been working quietly hoping to allow Louis to sleep for as long as he needed. He was slightly startled by a quiet voice behind him.

“Morning.”

Liam spun round with a plate covered in soap still in his hand. “Louis, I didn’t hear you come down. How are you feeling?”

Louis smiled weakly and tipped his hand from side-to-side in a ‘not-too-bad’ kind of gesture. “I’m alright. Still got a pounding headache though. Feel a bit better for getting a decent night’s sleep.”

Liam frowned. He didn’t like that Louis was still feeling the effects of his head wound but he thought it was better not to fuss over it. He would keep an eye on Louis though. “How did you sleep?” he asked instead.

“Like the dead,” Louis said as he sat down slowly at the breakfast table in the kitchen.

Liam nodded, although he wasn’t sure he was happy with the comparison. “Do you want some breakfast?”

Louis shook his head slightly, “Nah, I don’t think I can face anything thanks. Maybe just a cup of tea to wake me up a bit.”

“Sure,” Liam said as he turned and pulled a cup from the cupboard.

“So what time do you go to work?” Louis asked as Liam worked on making his drink.

“I don’t today,” Liam replied as he turned and placed the mug of tea in front of Louis. “It’s my day off.” He sat down in one of the other seats at the table.

Louis eyed him slightly suspiciously, “You’re not having a day off because of me are you?”

Liam shook his head, “No, it’s just the way my shifts have fallen. Kind of worked out for the best though.” He smiled at Louis for a moment before asking, “Why would it matter if I had taken a day off anyway?”

Louis tilted his head to the side slightly, “Because you’ve already done enough for me. You’ve let me into your home, you gave up your bed. I can’t ask you to do anything else.”

Liam shook his head quickly to disagree, “You haven’t _asked_ me to do anything. I told you last night, I want to do this.”

For a moment, Louis looked like he might argue further but then Liam watched as he seemed to swallow down what he was about to say. Liam wasn’t used to that; if Louis had something to say, nothing usually stopped him. He obviously wasn’t feeling like his usual self. Liam couldn’t help but think that Louis still looked exhausted even after sleeping. Not only that, but the bruises seemed somehow darker today. Liam despised every one of the marks that damaged Louis’ skin. Without noticing, he had been clenching his fist as he looked over Louis’ injuries.

Louis was watching him closely, “Everything alright?”

Liam seemed to shake himself from his dark thoughts and nodded, “Yeah, fine. So I suppose you need to take things nice and easy today.”

Louis shrugged, “I guess. Why? What are you going to do?”

“No major plans,” Liam replied. “Think I’d better go and get some shopping though. I can’t just feed you pasta and tea.”

Louis’ eyes widened at Liam’s comment.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked, noticing Louis’ reaction.

“I just assumed that I’d be going home later today,” Louis replied quietly.

“Oh,” Liam said. “Well I think you should stay here for a while. I think it’d be good for you…I’d like you to.”

Louis smiled slightly. He didn’t reply, he just nodded slowly and continued to sip at his tea.

***

Later, Liam left Louis drifting in and out of sleep on the sofa while he went to buy food. When he returned, Louis was fast asleep again. He didn’t look as peaceful as he had during the night though. Every so often his face would scrunch up and his eye-lids flickered. Liam wasn’t sure whether he was having a dream or if his injuries were causing him pain even in his sleep. He began to wonder whether he should call the station and tell them that he wouldn’t be in tomorrow. He rarely, if ever, took days off for personal reasons so maybe he was owed a few days now. He contemplated the idea as he put the groceries away in the kitchen, again trying to be as quiet as possible.

Liam was surprised by how quickly the day seemed to pass. Louis spent most of the day sitting on the sofa. The few times that he had moved, Liam had watched in concern as he wrapped his arms around his abdomen and winced as he walked. Liam could hardly believe that the hospital had discharged him. Surely he was in no fit state to be out of bed. Even though Louis was clearly in a lot of pain and still needed to rest, he offered to help Liam tidy up around the kitchen when he moved off the sofa. Liam had raised his eyebrows in disbelief and immediately guided Louis back to his place on the sofa, reprimanding him for being ridiculous and telling him that he needed to concentrate on getting better instead of worrying about the house.

As Louis slept fitfully on the sofa again later on, Liam sat and watched him. He made his decision to call his superior officer and get tomorrow off. Since he had joined the force he had been totally committed to his work, he had dragged himself in even when he had felt terrible and had never dreamt of calling in pretending to be sick. This was worth it though. They would survive for a day without him and he couldn’t imagine leaving Louis alone in this state. Before the work-obsessed part of his brain could object, he grabbed his phone and made the call.

***

It was getting late when Liam decided that Louis really should go up to bed. He had watched as Louis had yawned repeatedly for the last half an hour and how his eyes-lids had started to droop. Louis looked somewhat frustrated by the whole situation, “I don’t know how I can still be so tired. I’ve been asleep nearly all day. You must think I’m so lazy.”

Liam chuckled lightly, “Of course not. You’ve been through a lot Louis. Your body’s doing the only thing it can to help you recover.”

Louis huffed as he slowly pushed himself off the sofa. He watched as Liam suddenly yawned. “You look almost as tired as me,” he said.

Liam shook his head in denial. “Nah, I’m alright really. Had a few bad nights in a row so I just need to catch up.” His comment wasn’t completely believable as he tried to stifle another yawn.

Louis raised an eyebrow clearly showing that he wasn’t convinced. He didn’t say anything though as they began to make their way up the stairs.

When they reached Liam’s room, Louis turned to him and said, “Where are you going to sleep tonight?”

Liam looked at Louis in confusion, “On the sofa.”

“You know, you might be able to catch up on some of your sleep if I wasn’t stealing your bed,” Louis commented.

Liam shook his head vigorously, “I’ve told you, it’s fine. And anyway, you’re not ‘stealing’ it. I’ve given it to you. Besides there’s not a lot of other options.”

Louis looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “You should sleep in here.”

Again Liam shook his head, “Well where are you going to sleep then? I know you’ve been on the sofa all day but you need to get some proper sleep in bed tonight.”

“I know,” Louis replied. “But, the way I see it, the bed’s plenty big enough for two people. You should stay up here with me.”

Liam’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head at the suggestion and Louis might have laughed if his stomach wasn’t doing flips waiting for Liam’s response. “I…well…I…that’s very kind of you to offer but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea,” Liam finally managed to say.

Louis shrugged and turned to walk back towards the stairs. Liam remained rooted to the spot in shock for a moment before he quickly moved to stop Louis. “Where are you going?”

“Downstairs,” Louis stated simply. “To sleep on the sofa. I’m not going to take your bed away from you for another night.”

He watched as Liam looked completely appalled by his plan. He was really hoping that Liam would decide to just stay in the room with him quickly as he didn’t know how much longer he could stand around in the hallway without falling over.

“You can’t!” Liam objected.

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Louis answered. “If you really don’t feel comfortable staying in a bed with me then I’ll have to go.”

“That’s not it,” Liam blurted. “It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable. It’s just that…well you surprised me, that’s all. And what if I roll over in the night and hurt you or something?”

Louis shrugged his shoulders slightly, “I’m sure you won’t. I trust you.” Louis sensed that he had nearly won.

Liam looked indecisive for a few more moments before he sighed, “Okay, we’ll both stay in there.”

Louis smiled faintly and began to walk back towards the bedroom slowly. Liam followed him without saying anything else. Secretly, Louis was feeling quite pleased with himself. He had felt that Liam had been completely in control over the last few days; practically forcing Louis to get in the car with him at the hospital and then suggesting that he stayed at Liam’s. Not that Louis was complaining. He was truly grateful for Liam’s kind nature and the fact that he was doing everything he could to take care of him. But he also didn’t like the idea that Liam had managed to catch him off guard so much, at least now he felt like the tables had been turned slightly.

By the time they reached the bedroom, Liam seemed to have recovered from the shock a little. “Are you actually going to sleep _in_ the bed instead of on top of it tonight?” he asked.

Louis narrowed his eyes at the comment, “Do you know what? I think I might. And anyway, how do you know I didn’t get in the bed?”

Liam actually blushed and cursed himself silently. His cheeky comment had given him away. He cleared his throat, “Well I came up to check on you last night. You were suffering a concussion; I wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

“Right,” Louis drawled as he smiled at Liam. “Do you mind if I use the bathroom to get ready for bed?”

Liam shook his head, “I’ll go down the hall and use the other one.”

Louis nodded and the two of them went their separate ways.

When Liam returned to the bedroom, Louis was already in bed and this time he was under the covers. For a moment, Liam thought that he was already asleep but as he stepped closer to the bed Louis’ eyes snapped open. He looked at Liam steadily for a moment then smiled gently. “Am I on the right side?” he asked quietly.

It took a moment for Liam to understand the question, “Yeah you’ll be fine on that side. I’m afraid I usually just lie wherever. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to worry about ‘sides’ of the bed.”

Louis smiled softly again, then closed his eyes. Liam cleared his throat, wondering why he had said what he just had, then lifted the covers and slid into the bed. He reached out and switched the bedside lamp off. The room didn’t descend into complete darkness as the moonlight still filtered in. Liam could still see Louis’ face as he lay with his back to the window, facing him. The bruises still shone brightly on his face but he looked peaceful as his dark eyelashes rested against his cheekbones. Liam couldn’t bear to tear his eyes away from Louis’ face and he lay on his back with his head turned towards Louis just watching him silently. After a little while, Louis’ eyes fluttered open. His eyes met Liam’s and for a long time neither of them moved or spoke. Liam thought that he should have been embarrassed to have been caught staring at Louis so obviously, but he didn’t. He actually felt completely comfortable and relaxed.

A slight movement beneath the covers signalled the movement of Louis’ arm. He lifted it up and placed his right hand on Liam’s shoulder gently. “Thank you for taking care of me,” he whispered. “I’m glad that I’m here.”

Liam smiled in contentment, “You’re welcome. I’m glad that you’re here too.”

Louis smiled and took a deep breath. Then his eyes fell closed. He didn’t fall asleep immediately. Liam knew that Louis was still awake for a little while because his finger was tracing some imaginary pattern on Liam’s shoulder. The action lulled Liam into a sleepy state. He was aware when the tickling sensation slowed and eventually completely stopped and he was pleased that Louis had finally dropped off to sleep. Only then did he feel able to allow himself to give in to sleep and he too drifted off.

***

The next morning, Liam and Louis slept in. It wasn’t exactly unexpected for Louis seeing as he was still recovering from the attack, but it was almost unheard of for Liam to stay late in bed. When his eyes cracked open he was amazed to see the display of his bedside clock read 09:36. On a normal day he would have been up for nearly three hours by now. What surprised him even more was the fact that he didn’t feel bothered in the slightest. Usually, Liam was keen to get up and get going in the mornings, he didn’t like the idea of wasting the day lazing around in bed but today he felt completely content to lie there for a little longer. He had a good idea what the difference was today. He turned his head to look at the still-sleeping man beside him. Louis’ hand was still resting on Liam’s shoulder and the feeling warmed Liam’s entire being. Louis looked peaceful in sleep this morning and Liam was in no hurry to move from the warm bed and disturb him.

Eventually, Liam knew he had to move and he tried to do it without waking Louis. He gently lifted the hand that was placed on his shoulder and laid it flat on the bed. Then he pushed the covers away slowly and swung his legs out of the bed. Just as he was about to move off the bed he heard a shuffling behind him and he turned to look at Louis. Louis was blinking slowly as he tried to focus on Liam.

“Morning,” Liam said quietly.

Louis smiled tiredly, “Morning. You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye were you?”

Even in such a sleepy state, Louis was making sarcastic comments Liam thought to himself as he smiled at him, “Well I didn’t want to wake you but I guess I failed.”

“Don’t worry. I know I need my beauty sleep, especially at the moment,” he said as he lifted his hand to point to his face, “But even I have to get up at some point.”

Liam frowned slightly at Louis’ comment but didn’t say anything; he didn’t want to start the day thinking about how Louis had ended up in such a state. He pushed himself out of the bed and stretched. If he’d turned around at that moment he would have seen Louis’ eyes widen and his mouth hang open as he took in the sight before him. Louis had always thought that Liam was gorgeous and had known that beneath his work attire he was probably in good shape but he was completely stunned by what he saw now. He watched as well-toned muscles rippled beneath Liam’s smooth skin as he stretched. He drank in the sight of the bare flesh that ran down to the waistband of sleep-shorts that covered Liam’s bum.

When Liam eventually turned around, Louis was still staring and he smirked at the look on his face. Louis seemed to snap himself out of his trance but not for long as his eyes began to roam Liam’s chest and then his arms looking at the tattoos that covered the skin.

“Something wrong?” Liam asked cheekily.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong there,” Louis answered dreamily.

Liam laughed, “Louis?”

Finally Louis’ eyes drifted up to look at Liam’s face. Even under the bruises Liam could see the pink tinge on Louis’ cheeks. “Sorry,” Louis said trying to recover some of his dignity after being caught staring, “I just didn’t know you had so many tattoos.”

Liam laughed, “Oh right. Yeah well I guess they’re usually covered up. Don’t suppose it’s what people expect from a detective.”

“No I don’t suppose it is,” Louis mumbled.

“Well I’m going to go downstairs and make some breakfast. Are you coming to join me?” Liam asked cheerfully.

“Um yeah, I’ll be down in a minute,” Louis answered.

Liam smiled brightly and left the bedroom. Louis lay back in the bed to calm his racing pulse before he went downstairs.

***

The day was spent relaxing. Liam was pleased to find that Louis was managing to stay awake during the day so they sat out in the garden to get some fresh air. Louis had been a little annoyed when he first found out that Liam had taken a day off work because of him. However, Liam had managed to talk him round and as the day had gone on Louis had actually decided that he was glad that Liam had stayed home with him.

As the evening arrived, Liam suggested that he could take another day off to spend with Louis. As much as Louis would have enjoyed it, he had to be sensible and he told Liam that he had to go back to work. “Besides, if you keep taking days off because of me, how are you ever going to catch the guy that’s been attacking everyone?”

Liam had scowled at the mention of that man. As much as he was desperate to catch the attacker he had tried to push it from his mind over the last few days. He had been focused on Louis but then he realised that the only reason that Louis was staying with him at all was because of what that bastard had done so he really couldn’t escape it. He accepted Louis’ reasoning and agreed that he would go back to work.

That night there was no awkwardness as Liam and Louis climbed into bed. This was the arrangement now and they were both happy with it.

Even though it had been a restful day, Louis fell asleep almost immediately. On the other side of the bed, Liam lay awake. He was already going over the case in his head. He was trying to think if there was some small piece of evidence that they might have missed. He was determined to stop the attacker and make him pay for what he had done.

If Liam had been alone in his bed he might have got up and gone downstairs for a while to take his mind off his thoughts but he didn’t want to disturb Louis so he stayed where he was. He looked over at Louis’ sleeping form and watched him as he had done the previous night. Louis didn’t look anywhere near as peaceful as he was last night. He watched as Louis’s eyes seemed to be twitching behind his closed eyelids. As Liam watched, Louis squeezed his eyes closed tightly and began mumbling, before he started pushing the covers away from his body. His face scrunched up and the mumbles became shouts. It was obvious that he was having a nightmare, quite probably about what had happened to him.

Within moments, Liam moved closer to the still-sleeping man and wrapped his arms around him, whispering soothing words into his ear. “Sshh, Louis it’s alright. You’re safe, you’re alright.”

After a few final struggles, Louis stilled in Liam’s arms. He opened his eyes suddenly and sucked in a deep breath. He raised a hand to rub at his face, then hissed in pain as his fingers caught on the cut on his lip.

Again Liam whispered, “You’re alright. You’re safe, I’ve got you.”

Louis seemed to suddenly become aware of the position he was in; wrapped protectively in Liam’s arms with his head resting on a broad chest instead of on a pillow. He reached out to find Liam’s hand with his own and entwined their fingers. “I know,” he said quietly.

Louis blew out a long breath and closed his eyes again. Liam waited until he could feel that Louis’ breathing had become deep and steady before he allowed his own eyes to fall shut.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next week Louis remained at Liam’s house. His injuries were beginning to heal and the bruises had started to change from a dark purple to a yellowish-green shade. Liam had been at work every day and Louis was almost starting to feel like a housewife. After the first few days of sitting in the house alone watching TV and sleeping, he began to feel well enough to move about more easily and he decided to clean the house. It was weird because he really wasn’t a tidy person, his room at the flat was a bit of a tip, but he felt like he couldn’t just sit around doing nothing all day.

Liam had been more than a little surprised when he had come home to find that Louis was nearly finished cleaning the kitchen. At first he had actually reprimanded Louis, telling him that he should have been resting instead of doing jobs but Louis had been so adamant that he wanted to do something for Liam to repay his kindness that Liam had given in. Louis had been steadily making his way through the house cleaning each of the rooms.

Once Louis felt more comfortable moving around, he had also gone back to the flat to see Harry. He had been dreading the reaction he would get from his friend and he wasn’t surprised by what Harry said to him when he let himself into the flat.

“Wow, you look really familiar. I think I used to have a room-mate that looked like you but he went off with some dickhead cop and I haven’t seen or heard from him since,” Harry remarked sarcastically.

Louis sighed and let the comment go. He could understand why Harry was so irritated by the whole situation. Harry had always hated the police, then Louis had brought an officer into their lives, then he said he never wanted to see that officer again and then he went to stay with the same person that he had called an arsehole. As complicated as it was, Louis just couldn’t bring himself to stay away from Liam.

“I’m sorry that I disappeared, I guess you got my note,” Louis said somewhat sheepishly.

Harry’s nostrils flared as he sucked in an angry breath, “Oh yeah, I got your note. The last time I saw you, you were in a complete state in the hospital, which was all _his_ fault in the first place in case you’ve forgotten, and then the next thing I know you’re staying at his fucking house!” Harry was pacing angrily in front of Louis as he spoke.

Louis followed his friend’s movements with his eyes almost as though he was watching a tennis match. When he was sure that Harry had finished his little rant he decided it was safe to speak. “I understand why you must be pissed off and confused.”

“Pissed off – yes. Confused – too fucking right I am,” Harry interrupted. “I don’t fucking get it Lou.”

“Do you want me to explain then?” Louis said, without trying to snap at his already irate friend.

Harry just stared at Louis whilst chewing the inside of his cheek. He was waiting for Louis’ explanation.

Taking Harry’s silence as his cue to continue speaking, Louis began trying to explain what had happened. “I was upset with Liam. He had said something that bothered me and I reacted badly. It was my decision to go back out to work and it was stupid. I wasn’t thinking straight. If I had been, maybe I wouldn’t have gone with that guy. It wasn’t his fault _and_ if it wasn’t for him I’d probably be dead.”

“How do you figure that?” Harry erupted suddenly.

“I’m pretty sure that the only thing that saved me was having that pepper spray. Liam gave it to me so if he hadn’t…” He left the sentence unfinished as the reality sunk in with Harry.

After a moment, Harry grunted and sat down across from Louis. “Okay, so it wasn’t his fault that you got attacked but I still don’t get why you’re staying with him.”

Louis sighed heavily. He didn’t know how to explain this part so easily. “Liam came to see me at the hospital. He offered to help me get home and then when we got back here he didn’t want to leave me alone while you were at work. I had no idea that he was going to offer to take me to his place but he was so insistent and I was so tired. It just seemed like a good idea I guess.” He paused to gauge Harry’s reaction and see if his friend was going to comment, but there was no sign of any interruption so he continued. “I know you don’t like the cops and I’ve spent so long trying to tell you that Liam is different. Then I guess this all happened and it made you think you were right all along but Liam _is_ different. If you knew the things he’s said to me and what he’s done for me over these last few days…you’d understand.”

Harry looked at his friend for a long time; he seemed to be scrutinising him. “You really like him, don’t you?” he said after a while.

Louis smiled before replying simply, “Yes. I do.”

Harry smiled slightly although he still looked a little dubious. “So are you going to be staying with him for a while then?”

Louis shrugged his shoulders, “I guess so. If he’s happy to let me stay, I’m happy to stay for a while.”

“Hmm, well at least I know you’re still alive and I suppose he’ll make sure you’re alright.” Harry paused and chewed the inside of his cheek again for a moment, “Just be careful okay? I know you like him and you say he’s different but just…well just be careful.”

Louis knew that this was the most sentimental his friend was going to get at the moment and he smiled and nodded.

After that, the two of them moved away from the topic and chatted about what else had been going on. Louis was relieved to be back to his normal comfortable relationship with his best friend.

***

A few days later, Liam had gone to work and left Louis tidying up the house again. Louis seemed to find cleaning up the house therapeutic somehow and he actually enjoyed it. He blasted out some of Liam’s music that he had selected and kept himself busy. Liam worked long shifts and Louis was already used to him going out early in the morning and not returning until late on in the evening. Louis practically jumped out of his skin when he turned around during the early afternoon to find Liam leaning against the kitchen wall smiling brightly at him.

“Jesus Christ!” Louis said as he held his hand against his chest. “What are you doing back?”

Liam laughed at Louis’ reaction, “Sorry for making you jump. I did shout when I came in but I guess you didn’t hear with the music on. Then when I found you in here I thought it’d be funny to see how long it took you to notice that I was here.”

Louis felt his cheeks heat a little, wondering how long Liam had been standing watching him. “It’s not funny,” he said trying to look annoyed, “You nearly gave me a heart-attack.”

Liam laughed again, “Sorry. But I do bring good news if that helps.”

Louis immediately looked interested. He turned the music off and waited for Liam to tell him his news.

“When I got to work this morning there was a message from the hospital. Your friend Niall’s awake,” Liam told him with a wide smile.

“That’s great news!” Louis said brightly.

“Well Zayn and I went down there this morning to talk to him. He couldn’t give us much, he’s pretty blank about the whole thing at the moment, but he was able to talk to us a bit,” Liam continued.

Louis was still smiling, “I’m so pleased he’s finally awake. He’s a nice guy, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. So you came all the way home to tell me that?”

Liam smiled at him, “Well yeah. I was wondering if you’d like to go and see him.”

Louis was more than a little surprised by Liam’s suggestion. “Really?” he asked. “When?”

“I was thinking now,” Liam said.

Despite being caught off guard by the idea, Louis was keen to go. He went to get changed into some clean clothes and then followed Liam out to the car.

When they arrived at the hospital, Liam showed Louis to Niall’s room then left him to go in on his own. Louis was actually feeling nervous about going in. As much as he wanted to see Niall for himself and know that he was recovering, he didn’t really know what he was supposed to say. Quietly, Louis entered the room and found Niall propped up slightly by pillows in his bed with his eyes closed. He cleared his throat softly and Niall opened his eyes and looked in his direction.

“Louis?” he croaked out.

Louis allowed the door to close behind him and stepped closer to the bed, “Yeah, it’s me. I thought I’d come and see how you were.”

Niall smiled weakly, “That’s really nice of you.”

Louis continued moving closer until he was right next to the bed. He sat down in a plastic chair and looked Niall over. This was the first time he had seen his friend. Liam had told him what had happened and he knew that Niall had been nearly killed but actually seeing his condition was like a slap in the face to Louis. He actually felt like he had got off lightly. He cleared his throat again, “So how are you doing?”

The small smile faded from Niall’s face. “I’m alright,” he replied quietly.

Louis tilted his head to the side, “You don’t have to bullshit me mate.”

Niall actually chuckled a little at the comment before saying, “Alright, I feel like crap. Everything hurts. The doctor said I’ve been here for weeks. I feel completely disoriented.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Louis asked.

Niall closed his eyes for a moment. When he looked at Louis again he looked so sad that Louis regretted asking the question.

“Yes, I remember what happened. The police came round this morning asking me about it, but I don’t think I was much help to them. I gave them a description of the guy – I don’t think I’ll ever forget his face,” Niall said quietly.

Louis could empathise with that; he had seen his attacker’s face in his nightmares more than once in the last week.

“Looks like you’ve had a bit of a rough time yourself,” Niall said as he lifted his hand slowly to point at Louis’ face.

Louis shook his head slowly, “It’s nothing. Not compared to what you’ve been through.”

A heavy silence descended on the room for a while before Niall asked, “How did you know I was awake?”

Louis didn’t know how his answer would be received but he wasn’t going to lie. “One of the police officers that came to see you this morning told me. He brought me down here to see you.”

Niall looked surprised and a little confused, “Oh right.” He looked like he wanted to say more but he didn’t speak again.

Louis took a deep breath before he explained in more detail. “I’m not working as a hooker anymore,” he said and he felt a great sense of pride wash over him saying those words out loud. He smiled confidently, “I don’t want to do that anymore and I’m trying to move on with my life.”

Niall smiled widely at him, “Well I’m pleased for you mate. Good for you.”

“What about you?” Louis asked. “Before this happened you seemed like you wanted to get out of it yourself.”

Niall nodded slowly, “I do. I’m going to. This has been the final warning for me I guess. If I don’t get out, I’ll end up dead.”

“What are you going to do then?” Louis asked.

“Move away from round here. Try to start out somewhere new. Maybe get a normal job. No-one will miss me,” Niall said sadly.

Louis pulled a face and Niall continued, “You’re the only one who has bothered to come and see me. I asked the doctor and he said no-one has been down here to ask about me. I suppose I should be grateful that Dixon hasn’t come to look for me…” Niall trailed off and stared at the wall for a while. “Anyway, as soon as I’m back on my feet I’m out of here.”

Louis didn’t know whether he should feel sorry for Niall or congratulate him. “I think you’re doing the right thing. If you need any help though, you’ve got my number.”

“Thanks,” Niall said quietly.

Louis tried to steer the conversation onto other topics. Neither of them wanted to spend too long thinking about what had happened to them and it wouldn’t do them any good to think about the past. After nearly an hour, Louis said his farewells and promised to come back to visit Niall while he was recovering in the hospital.

Louis found Liam in his car going through some paperwork that he had brought with him. “Do you ever stop?” he laughed as he slid into the front seat.

Liam looked like he was giving the question serious thought before he answered with a smile, “No.”

Liam threw the papers onto the backseat, which caused Louis to roll his eyes, and they set off.

“I’ve got to get back to work, but I can drop you off back at home on the way if you want,” Liam said as he drove.

“Actually could you drop me off at the flat? I’d like to catch up with Harry if he’s there and pick up some stuff,” Louis replied.

“Of course,” Liam said.

As they continued on their journey, Louis couldn’t help but think how lucky he was. Seeing Niall had made him realise how much he had to be thankful for. Not only had he survived a terrible ordeal, but he also had people who cared about him. He glanced over at Liam and smiled softly to himself.

When they arrived outside Harry’s building, Louis turned in his seat to smile widely at Liam. Liam returned the smile, although he wondered why Louis was looking quite so happy.

“I’ll see you at home later,” Louis said as he opened the car door.

If it was possible, Liam’s smile became even brighter when he heard Louis’ use of the word ‘home’. He was just thinking how much he liked the sound of that when Louis turned back and leant towards him. Liam was caught completely off guard when Louis’ lips brushed against his. His left hand fell away from the steering wheel and raised to gently hold the back of Louis’ neck so that the kiss wouldn’t end too soon. Louis’ own hand gripped onto the front of Liam’s shirt and his lips moved against Liam’s. They had been sharing a bed for a week but this kiss was the most sensual thing that had happened between them and suddenly they were both aware of how much they wanted it to never end. It was Louis that eventually pulled away. He licked at his bottom lip as his eyes locked with Liam’s. “You have to go,” he said quietly.

Liam grunted in annoyance. ‘ _How the hell am I supposed to go back to work now?’_ he thought to himself. Louis was smiling cheekily at him almost as though he could read his thoughts. Liam scowled in mock sulkiness as Louis actually got out of the car this time.

“See you later,” he called.

“See you later,” Liam echoed, smiling again.

Louis returned his happy expression and closed the car door. He watched as Liam drove off, then turned around to visit his friend.

***

As usual it was early evening when Liam returned to the house. He walked in and called out to Louis. He heard a call in response and made his way into the kitchen. Louis was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms folded across his chest, his face was pensive. It was obvious to Liam that something was wrong. He looked at Louis curiously but his heart was thundering in his chest. As soon as he had seen Louis’ stance he had immediately assumed the worst. What if Louis had thought about their kiss and decided it had been a mistake? Liam could hardly bear to consider it. Not when he had spent the whole afternoon daydreaming about the moment that they had finally kissed.

“Are you alright?” Liam asked eventually.

Louis looked at him seriously and chewed on his lower lip. A few times he opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, then he finally seemed to find the words he wanted to say. “When I kissed you earlier…it was what I had wanted to do for a long time but I shouldn’t have done it.”

As soon as Louis had started to speak, Liam had felt his heart sink. “Why? I don’t understand.”

Louis unfolded his arms and ran his fingers through his hair agitatedly, “I shouldn’t have done it because, as much as I wanted to, I can’t guarantee you anything else. I think you’re well aware that I like you a lot Liam but you know about my past. You know what I’ve done for a living for years. I’m sure you know what that might mean for me. I’ve always tried to be careful but nothing is one hundred per cent safe. I could have been exposed to any number of different infections. I’m not willing to put you at risk.”

Liam was staring at Louis in shock. He couldn’t believe that Louis had got himself into such a distressed state about the fact that he might have contracted some sexually transmitted disease. In truth, Liam had thought about it. He had assumed that it was probably the reason that nothing physical had happened between himself and Louis. As he looked at Louis he realised how much of a huge issue it was for him. He didn’t understand why Louis had suddenly brought it up though. “I don’t think you should let it get you so worked up yet,” he said gently. “We don’t know anything for definite. You should get tested and then we’ll know for sure.”

Suddenly, Louis began pacing across the kitchen in front of Liam. When he reached one end of the room he spun round and quickly walked back towards the breakfast table. He stopped in front of it and looked down at the table-top. Following his gaze, Liam saw something that he hadn’t noticed before. Placed on the table was an envelope with Louis’ name and the address of the flat printed on the front. Louis continued to stare at it for a moment before he looked up at Liam. “I’ve already been tested,” he said quietly. “I had it done before I left the hospital last week. Those are my results.” He pointed at the envelope with a slightly unsteady hand, then folded his arms across his chest and stared at it again.

Liam was quiet for a while as he too stared at the envelope. He swallowed anxiously. “Well…what were your results?” he asked eventually.

Louis looked at him steadily, “I don’t know. I haven’t opened them yet.”

“Why?” Liam asked in confusion.

“I can’t,” Louis admitted. “I guess I’m too afraid to do it. When I got to Harry’s he gave them to me and I haven’t been able to open them. I just brought them back here. I’ve been staring at that damn envelope all afternoon. I can’t do it.” He paused for a moment. “Will you open it for me?”

Liam looked at him in shock. Obviously this was something that was causing Louis a great deal of stress but Liam could hardly believe that he would ask him to open a letter that contained such potentially life-changing news. “You’re serious?” he spluttered out.

Louis shrugged his shoulders slightly, “I can’t bring myself to open it. Please?”

Liam looked at Louis’ pleading face and took a deep breath. He reached forward and lifted the envelope off the table-top. Holding it between his fingers he wondered how something so flimsy could cause so much anxiety but he could only imagine how Louis must have been feeling.

Louis was watching him with wide-eyes. After a moment, Liam began to slide his thumb beneath the seal of the envelope and Louis couldn’t stand to watch. He turned away to look out of the kitchen window. Even with his back turned he could still see Liam reflected in the glass, his face serious as he pulled the paper from the envelope. Louis squeezed his eyes shut; he didn’t want to see Liam’s reaction as he read the letter.

Time seemed to have stopped as Louis stood with his back turned and his eyes closed. Then he heard a voice close behind him, “Louis…all the results are negative.”

His eyes snapped open and he turned around so quickly that he nearly wobbled over. He hadn’t realised that Liam was so close behind him either as he made eye contact with the other man.

“They’re all negative,” Liam repeated. “You have no sexually transmitted infections.”

Liam held the letter up in front of Louis and he scanned the text quickly. He didn’t speak; he didn’t know what to say. He looked beyond the letter at Liam again and gave him a watery smile. Liam smiled brightly at him and pulled him into a tight hug. “I knew you’d be alright,” he whispered into his ear. Louis returned the hug, burying his head in Liam’s shoulder. He was so overwhelmed that he could feel tears of happiness stinging at his eyes. He had been so afraid that his past would stand in the way of his future with Liam that now he could barely contain his relief.

Liam gently pushed him backwards, holding him by the shoulders so that he could look at him. “Are you alright?” he asked kindly.

Louis just nodded. He still couldn’t find the words to speak.

Liam tilted his head to the side slightly. He was still smiling. “I think you’d better have a sit down. I’ll make us some dinner.”

Louis allowed himself to be directed towards the living room. He flopped down onto the sofa and leaned his head back. In his mind, he heard Liam’s words repeated over and over. He was free from any nasty infections. He was free to move on from his past.

By the time Liam had prepared their meal, Louis had recovered from his emotionally draining experience. The two of them talked comfortably as always as they ate and Louis felt completely at ease once more.

As they ascended the stairs at bedtime, Liam placed a caring hand against Louis’ back. It was a simple touch but Louis felt that it held so much promise.

When they finally lay side-by-side in bed, Liam turned his body so that he was facing Louis. “How are you feeling now?” he asked quietly.

Louis smiled contentedly and sighed. “Like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m sure that sounds so melodramatic right? But I really feel like I can move on with my life now.”

Liam nodded in understanding. He was silent for a while before asking, “How do you want to move on with your life?”

Without saying anything more, Louis moved closer towards him and pressed his lips against Liam’s. This time, Liam wasn’t caught unprepared; he had hoped that Louis would kiss him again and he was hoping that this time Louis wouldn’t pull away. Without breaking their kiss, Louis pushed himself onto his elbow so that he could lean over Liam. His free hand rested against Liam’s chest and he began to move his index finger across the skin in patterns. Liam let out a soft chuckle at the sensation and Louis pulled back looking at him curiously.

“What’s so funny?” he asked suspiciously.

Liam reached his hand up to place it over Louis’ where it was now still against his chest. “You always do this thing with your finger. It’s like you’re tracing some imaginary pattern. You used to do it in the coffee shop when we met there, now you do it on me.”

Louis looked a little puzzled by what Liam had told him. He clearly had no idea that he was doing it. “Sorry, I’ll stop doing it then.”

He moved to pull his hand away but Liam held it in place, “I didn’t say I wanted you to stop. I like it. I find it…endearing.”

Louis tried to look like he wasn’t impressed by Liam’s comment but he couldn’t hide the small smile that tugged at his lips. He was about to complain that he wasn’t endearing when Liam moved his hands. One of them rested against his back and the other slipped around the back of his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. Louis smiled into the kiss, understanding that now wasn’t the time for their playful banter. Without even noticing he was doing it, his finger began its movement across Liam’s chest again.

Liam’s fingers tangled in Louis’ hair as their kiss deepened. Eventually, Louis pulled back slightly and turned his attention to kissing and sucking along Liam’s jaw-line and down to the tender skin of his throat. Liam moaned at the sensation and Louis smiled as he continued to work his way towards Liam’s collarbone. Liam moved his hands along Louis’ sides, caressing his skin, smiling as he felt Louis’ muscles flutter beneath his touch. Suddenly, Liam grabbed Louis’ arms and pushed him over onto his back. He hovered above his partner for a moment before leaning down to capture Louis’ lips yet again. As Liam pulled away from the kiss, leaving them both breathing heavily, he heard Louis whisper, “Touch me.”

Liam drew in a deep breath and leant down close to Louis, murmuring in his ear, “Where?”

Louis shivered slightly at the warm breath that tickled his ear, “Anywhere. Everywhere.”

Liam didn’t need any further guidance as he began to explore Louis’ body. Hands, tongue and teeth roamed across smooth flesh learning every detail, storing every action that caused Louis to moan and shudder in his memory.

He worked his way down Louis’ chest, then paused as he reached the line of dark hair that led down to Louis’ boxers. He glanced up at Louis, smiling at the way his eyes were sparkling with anticipation. He hooked his thumbs onto the waistband of the underwear and when Louis raised his hips slightly he pulled them down his legs. He discarded the boxers and then ran his hands up Louis’ legs, tracing patterns teasingly against his inner thighs. Louis looked like he might explode at any moment so Liam decided that he couldn’t tease him any more. He moved up slightly and leant down to lick Louis’ hard cock with short flicks of his tongue. The action caused Louis to groan loudly and his hands reached down to run his fingers through Liam’s hair. Louis’ moans of pleasure became longer and deeper as Liam slid his mouth around the smooth head of his cock.

It wasn’t long before the rhythm of Liam’s mouth moving around his cock caused Louis to become a writhing, moaning mess on the bed. Liam would have been quite content to continue, loving the sound of Louis’ moans and the sight of Louis pressing his head back against his pillow, but Louis reached his hand down and lifted Liam’s head away. He pulled him into a breathless kiss as Liam fumbled in the drawer of his bedside table trying to find his bottle of lube. Eventually, his fingers closed around it and he placed it on the bed beside them.

It was Louis’ turn to change their positions. He held Liam’s arms tightly and pushed him over onto his back, before kissing him intensely again. Louis finally relinquished his hold on Liam, instead picking up the little bottle of lube. He took Liam’s hand in his and squeezed the liquid out, before smearing it across Liam’s fingers with his own hand. Louis began to glide his fingers over Liam’s erection. As he continued to move his hand he increased the pressure, squeezing more tightly, every so often running his thumb across the slit at the tip of Liam’s sensitive cock. Liam’s eyes fluttered closed at the sensation and Louis shuddered at the low groan that erupted from his chest.

Liam moved his hand to the smooth skin of Louis’ bum, stroking him gently, before moving his fingers teasingly around Louis’ hole. Slowly, he pushed one slick finger into Louis and kept pressing forward until Louis moaned beautifully at the sensation. Liam kept moving his finger in and out steadily a few times before pushing in with a second. He twisted and curled his fingers until Louis was panting and a red flush had spread across his chest.

Louis leant forward and captured Liam’s lips in a desperate kiss as Liam continued to move his fingers. He moved his mouth to Liam’s throat where he sucked at the skin hungrily. Finally, Liam pulled his hand away and Louis moved back. He began to lower himself towards Liam’s waiting cock. His eyes locked with Liam’s and he held the gaze as he grabbed Liam’s erection with one hand to guide it towards his hole.

Liam’s mouth fell open in a gasp of pure pleasure as he felt his cock being surrounded by the tight warmth of Louis’ body. Still they held eye contact as Louis slowly lowered himself all the way down until Liam was filling him completely. For a long moment neither of them moved, as much as Liam was desperate to. Gently, Louis placed his hand against Liam’s stomach and began to tickle a slow pattern against his skin. Liam hummed in pleasure at the feeling and Louis smiled seductively before beginning to move in a slow rhythm riding Liam’s cock.

Liam’s large hands rested against Louis’ hips encouraging his movements as he thrust upwards into the exhilarating heat and pressure of his lover’s body. As Louis moved down, Liam moved his hips upwards sharply, and suddenly Louis moaned loudly causing Liam to move a step closer to his climax. Liam repeated his action longing to hear Louis make that sound again. He wrapped his hand around Louis’ erection and began to stroke it in time with his thrusts. Louis’ breathing became ragged and moans and curses began to fall from his lips. Liam could feel the pressure building up inside of him, his orgasm preparing to erupt.

Louis was breathily panting Liam’s name like a mantra until with a shudder he yelled out a broken cry of “ _Liam_!” The shout ripped from Louis as he came was nearly enough to push Liam over the edge but seeing Louis’ eyes roll back in his head and the look of pure bliss on his face was all that he needed. With a loud moan and a final thrust upwards he came inside Louis. Panting heavily, he wrapped his arms around Louis as he fell forwards against him.

Louis kissed the sweaty skin of Liam’s neck gently as he tried to recover his senses. He was still shaking from the rush of his climax as Liam began to stroke his hair. He eventually rolled off Liam, onto his side on the bed. He gazed at his lover for a long time and Liam gave him an exhausted smile.

For Louis, the experience had been as close to perfect as he could imagine. This hadn’t been some harsh fuck in a dirty alley or some cheap hotel. It had been so different, the complete opposite of everything he was used to. It hadn’t been about Louis doing all the hard work to ensure his client got off and he got paid. It had been tender and caring. He hardly dared to think of it in such a way, but it had been making love.

Moving slowly, Liam placed a gentle kiss against Louis’ lips before falling back against his pillow. Louis moved his hand up to rest against Liam’s shoulder in the same way that he had when they had first shared a bed. Liam watched as Louis’ eyes fell shut and the rise and fall of his chest became deep and steady. Somehow seeing Louis like that seemed to lull him into the most comfortable and calm state possible. With Louis’ hand warming his skin, he fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we have reached the end of my first Liam/Louis fic. I have to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it so I hope you have enjoyed reading it.  
> Thank you to everyone who has read, left kudos or commented.  
> I'd love to know what you thought of the story so please let me know. Thanks and enjoy!

There had never been any doubt in Liam’s mind that Louis would be staying with him permanently and two months after the attack Louis was more than comfortable living with the detective. He hadn’t wanted Liam to think that he was taking advantage of his generosity so had suggested that he moved back in with Harry but Liam had immediately dismissed the idea. He made his thoughts perfectly clear – he wanted Louis to stay. So after two months of living together they had settled into an unexpected, yet content, lifestyle.

Louis had obviously given up his life working the streets but he was looking for a new job. He joked with Liam about whether he could imagine him sitting behind a desk in some office but in reality he knew he’d be very lucky to get such a position. After all, he had no experience and hadn’t got any ‘appropriate’ jobs to put on his CV so finding someone to employ him would be extremely difficult. He didn’t want to give up on his quest though. He refused to sit around at home while Liam went out to work and supported him. He had always been able to provide for himself, one way or another, and he wasn’t about to change that. Liam was trying to help him any way he could and was equally keen for Louis to find work. He knew that Louis wasn’t the type to let others pay his way indefinitely and he didn’t want to seem patronising.

In addition to his search for a job, Louis also had to face the prospect of telling Harry that he wasn’t going to be moving back in. He had been dreading the thought of it, fearing how his best friend would react, and also feeling incredibly guilty about leaving him. He called round to visit his friend several times each week and each time he promised himself he would pluck up the courage to tell him, but each time he came away with the news still hanging over him like a storm cloud. It was Harry who actually raised the subject in his usual out-of-the-blue manner.

“So is it safe for me to assume that you’re not moving back in here again?” he asked one afternoon when Louis had called in to see him.

Louis had nearly spat his drink all over his friend upon hearing the question. He looked at Harry in wide-eyed surprise without knowing quite what to say in response.

Harry simply tipped his head slightly to the side and raised a knowing eyebrow. “Oh come on Lou. You don’t think I hadn’t worked it out for myself? It’s pretty damn obvious. And the fact that you’ve been all antsy like you’re about to burst every time you’ve been over here kind of gave me an extra clue. I knew you had something big to tell me. I put two and two together. I know you too well.”

Louis cleared his throat and looked at his friend slightly nervously, “Are you angry? I mean, I get it if you’re pissed at me for moving out.”

Harry chuckled, “Louis you’re my best friend but it’s not my decision to make. I can’t force you to stay here. I’ve enjoyed having you here with me and I hate to admit it, but I’ll miss you. But I also know that there’s no way that I can stand in the way of your feelings for Liam. I’ve tried enough times to talk you out of it and warn you off and you’ve proven that you’re way too stubborn for that. You’ve got it bad and I guess I have to accept that.”

“Liam really is a great guy,” Louis said quietly.

Harry hummed softly in response. “I have to trust your judgement on that. I hope you’re right, I’m sure you are. He makes you happy so I guess that’s the most important thing. Just remember, that I’m always here if you need me. Don’t be a stranger.”

Louis shook his head immediately. “Of course I won’t. I’ll come to visit you all the time. You’ll always be my best friend whatever else happens in my life,” he paused for a moment before asking, “What are you going to do now?”

Harry smiled brightly. “Well I’m going to have to find a new room-mate. I might start auditioning people.”

Louis rolled his eyes but then looked at his friend seriously, “You could quit like me. Try to find a new job.”

Harry laughed at the suggestion and shook his head, “Oh you’ve gone soft Lou! It’s too late for me. I’ve been in this game for far too long to get out now. And I know what you’re thinking, ‘ _I managed to get out’_. Well I’m afraid there’s no cop in a shining car coming to save me.”

Louis looked sad at Harry’s words, but his friend was still smiling brightly. “Who says I want to get out anyway? I know what I’m doing with this life. I’m okay. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I do though,” Louis mumbled.

Harry slapped him on the arm playfully, “I know. You can check up on me regularly and I know where you are if I need you. I don’t want you ruining your little love-nest by fretting about me.”

Laughing at Harry’s comments, Louis knew that he had to accept things as they were. He had been incredibly lucky in meeting Liam and as much as he might wish that something equally wonderful would come along for his best friend he knew that it wasn’t very likely. He knew that life rarely went according to plan; he knew that his own life was the perfect example of that.

***

After several weeks of living together Liam was still as busy as ever with his work. Louis was used to it. He knew how committed Liam was to his cases and he didn’t think anything of it when Liam worked long hours or brought work home with him. The hunt for the attacker hadn’t been successful but the number of assaults had actually fallen in the last few weeks. Liam wanted to think that it was because of the police enquiry or that the attacker had left the area but both he and Louis knew that it was more likely the result of the prostitutes becoming much more careful. They hardly ever went out to work on their own anymore and some of them had reluctantly stopped working altogether for a while.

That didn’t mean that Liam’s workload had decreased. He was still determined to find the attacker but pressure from his superior officers meant that his main focus had shifted back to the drugs case that had initially introduced him to Louis. The case had moved on a long way in a few weeks and, before long, Liam was preparing for a raid on the drug dealers.

Louis was beside himself with worry about the operation. He knew how violent the men involved were and he had heard terrible stories about guns and weapons. His fears weren’t helped when Liam, who was actually trying to reassure him, told him that he’d be wearing a bullet-proof vest for protection. Louis could hardly stand the thought of Liam being shot at. He had never really stopped to think about the dangers involved in Liam’s job but now he found himself being smacked in the face by them. He very nearly asked Liam not to go on the raid but he knew that that wasn’t fair. As much as it was dangerous, it was Liam’s job and he loved what he did. Louis wouldn’t stand in his way.

When Liam left for the station that evening, he kissed Louis softly on the lips and stroked his hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. Louis pulled him close, squeezing him tightly, trying to pour everything he felt into the action. He hoped that Liam understood. Liam pushed him back gently and Louis gave him a watery smile before letting him go. He stood in the doorway of the house and watched him drive away. He didn’t close the door until Liam was completely lost from sight.

***

Louis hardly sat down all night. He paced around the house incessantly, only stopping to make himself cups of tea. He tried to keep himself occupied by turning on the television or cleaning up but it didn’t help. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Liam might be doing and how the raid was going.

By the early hours of the morning, Louis was frantic with worry. He was sure that Liam should have been home and his thoughts were running away with him. When he finally heard the front door open, he ran through the living room and into the hallway immediately. He stared at Liam like he’d not seen him in months before throwing himself at him. Liam was taken aback by Louis’ greeting but he had to admit that it was much better than coming home to a silent house.

Louis was so wired after his evening of panic that, even though Liam was exhausted, they still went to bed and had rather frenzied sex. As they lay together trying to catch their breath afterwards, Louis began his usual finger movements across Liam’s chest. He felt Liam’s arm tighten around him and knew that his lover enjoyed the sensation. Lying there, he felt the stress from the evening drain away. All terrible thoughts of losing Liam were stripped from his mind.

“I love you,” he whispered against Liam’s chest.

He had known that he loved Liam for a while but he hadn’t found the courage to say the words before now. But now he knew that he had to. The thought of not being with Liam was too awful to imagine and he couldn’t think of any reason why he shouldn’t tell him how he felt.

He felt Liam shift beneath him until his head was resting against his pillow. Liam leant over him and even in the dark room Louis could see that he was smiling. He moved his head down to capture Louis’ lips in a soft kiss. “And I love you,” he whispered against his lips. Louis’ heart leapt at the words and he leant up to kiss Liam gently again. Liam breathed deeply in contentment before falling back against his own pillow.

For once, Liam fell asleep first, leaving Louis lying awake watching him. He watched the steady rise and fall of Liam’s chest and realised how much he loved each of those simple movements. It seemed strange to think that not that long ago he had never even met Liam and now he couldn’t imagine his life without the man lying beside him. It took a long time for Louis to fall asleep; not because he was worried, just because he could hardly bear to tear his eyes away from the peaceful sleeping face that made his life complete.

***

A few weeks after the raid, Liam returned home clutching a small white envelope with his name printed across the front. He presented it to Louis when he found him in the kitchen and asked him to open it. Louis eyed the little envelope suspiciously before sliding a piece of thick paper from inside. He scanned the message on the paper quickly before he looked up at Liam in curiosity, feeling a rather nervous sensation tickling at the pit of his stomach but not wanting to show any sign of his panic yet. He swallowed thickly. “So you’ll be going to this ball then?” he asked, waving the piece of paper around casually.

Liam smiled brightly, “I go every year. It’s kind of expected that we’ll attend. We have to have a pretty good excuse for not going. And it’s all for a good cause anyway.”

Louis looked at the invitation again. The ball was a charity event to raise money for the families of officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty. A shudder of horror at the thought of that prospect passed through Louis. He raised his eyes from the invitation to look at Liam again. The detective was still smiling at him. Louis might have laughed at how goofy he looked just standing there smiling but he had a suspicion that there was more to Liam’s smile than he was letting on.

“For the last few years I’ve just gone on my own and tagged along with Zayn and Perrie, but I was thinking that this year I might not have to go on my own,” Liam said as he took a step towards Louis. Still he smiled but now it had become more of a persuasive type of smile and Louis took a step back and held out the invitation like it was a bomb.

Louis began to shake his head, “Oh no. I really don’t think that it’s a good idea. I can’t just turn up to some ball that’s full of police officers. Someone will recognise me! It’s a bad idea, you should just go on your own. I don’t mind staying here for the night by myself.”

Liam frowned, “No-one will recognise you. You’ll look completely different once you’re in a tuxedo and besides you have nothing to worry about anymore, it’s not like you still work on the streets.”

“I really think it’s a bad idea. You don’t want me there getting in your way when you’re trying to have a night out with your colleagues,” Louis scrambled for reasons why he shouldn’t go. In truth, the thought of being in a room surrounded by police officers was a terrifying prospect. He knew that he didn’t have anything to worry about anymore, he wasn’t a hooker now, he couldn’t get arrested for anything, but he was still scared that someone would recognise him. He didn’t want to put Liam in a difficult situation.

Without realising it, Louis had been backing away from Liam slowly and now he found himself with his back pressed against the kitchen counter. Liam had been closing in on him steadily and the smile that had become a frown was beginning to creep back onto his face. He stopped when he was right in front of Louis and pressed his body against his lover’s. He held one of Louis’ hands as he spoke. “It would mean so much to me if you came with me.” He leant down and pressed his lips against Louis’ neck and began kissing and sucking at the tender flesh of his throat.

Louis tried to hold back the moan that threatened to fall from his lips.

This wasn’t fair, how was he supposed to think of excuses with Liam doing that? “But I won’t know anyone. You’ll have to sit with me all night so I’m not left on my own.”

Ceasing his actions, Liam breathed his response against Louis’ neck. His breath tickled against the wet skin on his throat causing Louis to shudder. “We’ll sit with Zayn and Perrie. You get on well with them, you can talk to them.” Before Louis could reply, Liam had immediately reattached his lips to his neck and he began rubbing his palm against the bulge in Louis’ jeans.

Louis couldn’t argue with Liam’s comment, he did get on well with Zayn and Perrie. Liam had invited the couple round for dinner one evening to introduce them to his boyfriend properly. Louis had been a nervous wreck before the meal but by the end of it he was laughing comfortably with their guests. Actually Liam found it a little concerning just how well Louis and Zayn got along. The last thing he needed was his partner and his lover ganging up on him to wind him up. The dinner invitation had been returned and the four of them had spent several evenings together since.

Louis finally allowed a groan to pass his lips. It was partly a moan of pleasure and partly a sign that he knew that he had lost the battle against Liam’s persistent persuasion. “This really isn’t fair you know,” he panted as Liam continued his actions. “How am I supposed to put up any sort of fight when you have such wonderful methods of persuading me?”

Liam finally raised his head and looked him in the eyes, “Does that mean you’ll go with me?”

Louis narrowed his eyes slightly but his expression was playful. He looked like he was giving the question serious thought. “Yes, I suppose it does.”

Liam beamed at him before kissing him passionately. One hand reached behind Louis and squeezed his arse while the other began to undo his jeans hastily. Louis grinned against Liam’s mouth as he continued to kiss him; at least he would get a special ‘thank you’ for agreeing to attend the ball.       

***

The evening of the ball arrived suddenly and as Louis looked himself up and down in the full-length mirror in the bedroom he began to wonder whether he had been an idiot to allow himself to be so easily persuaded. Liam was already downstairs, leaving Louis to finish getting ready. He stood looking at his reflection and even though he thought he looked the smartest he ever had, he still questioned whether he was going to fit in. He was convinced that he would walk into the room and everyone would turn around and see a hooker standing there. ‘ _Ex-_ hooker’ he reminded himself forcefully.

He made his way down the stairs and into the living room. Liam appeared in the doorway from the kitchen upon hearing him and stood there smiling warmly.

“You look amazing,” he said as he walked forward and kissed Louis on the lips.

Louis fiddled with the collar of his shirt, “Are you sure I look alright? Will I do?”

“Louis, you look gorgeous. In fact, I wonder if we have time for…”

Louis held up his hand and interrupted before Liam could finish his wondering out loud, “Don’t even suggest it. We don’t have time and it took me far too long to do my hair for you to mess it up again.”

Liam pouted playfully at Louis’ sternness, “Can I mess it up when we get home then?”

“I’ll be so relieved to get through this, that by the time we get home you can do whatever the hell you want,” Louis replied.

Liam tilted his head to the side and took Louis’ hand in his own, “You’ll be fine tonight. Just relax and enjoy yourself. I’m proud to be taking you with me.”

Louis actually smiled for the first time that evening when he heard Liam’s words. “You always know the right thing to say,” he said before he kissed Liam again. Liam squeezed his hand and led him out to the car to leave for the ball.

***

Surprising even himself, Louis was actually enjoying himself. When they had first arrived at the ball, he had sat down with Liam immediately at their table and stared around the room. He wanted to see if he recognised any of the officers before they recognised him. He was quite pleased to find that none of them stood out in his mind as seeming familiar and he felt more relaxed straight away.

Shortly after they had arrived, Zayn and Perrie appeared and sat with them and Louis felt even more comfortable. A few of Liam’s colleagues came over and Liam introduced him to each one. All of them shook Louis’ hand and made polite conversation with him. None of them stared at him with that look of recognition that he had been dreading. Some of them remarked how nice it was to see that Liam had finally brought someone along to one of their social events and Louis found himself suddenly feeling deeply honoured to be the guest that he had decided to bring. Louis could hardly believe how tense he had felt about attending the ball but as he sat chatting away with Liam and his friends he felt completely at ease.

It was several hours into the ball when Louis made his excuses to go outside to get some fresh air. With Liam at the bar ordering drinks, Louis assured Zayn and Perrie that he’d be fine by himself and slipped away. At the start of the evening Louis wouldn’t have dared stray from Liam’s side but as the evening had progressed he had realised that he was just another guest at the party.

Louis walked out of one of the side doors of the building which he had seen other people going in and out of all evening. He found himself in a large, peaceful garden which was a dramatic change from the hubbub inside the party. There was a couple walking around the garden, but they were quite a distance from him, so Louis decided to walk around himself to enjoy the calm atmosphere. As he sauntered around he lost himself in his thoughts until he realised that he should head back inside before Liam thought that he had tried to escape. Looking up at the sky, he drew in a deep breath.

“If I’d known that you offered an escort service I might have brought you along myself,” a sarcastic voice drawled from behind him.

Louis whipped around immediately to locate the owner of the voice. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened as he saw the man standing behind him. The man was the same person that had plagued his nightmares after his attack. Even though the man looked completely different this evening, dressed in a tuxedo like all of the other men at the ball, Louis could never have mistaken his face. It was the man that had attacked him months ago.

Louis actually took a step backwards as he continued to stare in disbelief at the person standing before him. The man was smirking at Louis cruelly; he was obviously enjoying the panic and shock that he had caused.

“You’re the one that got away,” the man stated simply. “You have no idea how your face has tortured me. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about you.”

The hairs on the back of Louis’ neck rose as he listened to the man speak and a shudder passed through him like someone had poured cold water down his spine. He wanted to get back inside, get away from this psycho and, most of all, he wanted to find Liam, but he had wandered quite a long way from the building and the thought of running with this creep chasing him turned his legs to jelly. He managed to tear his eyes away from the man for a moment to look around wildly for some sort of escape or help. The couple that had been in the garden earlier were now lost from sight and the music and noise from inside the ball were droning dully in the background.

The man looked amazingly at ease as he continued to stare at Louis lasciviously. “Now, I assume that Payne knows that he’s brought a hooker to the party,” he said casually.

If it was possible, Louis felt even more disturbed. This man knew who Liam was. The sickening thought that this man actually _worked_ with Liam felt like a slap to the face. Louis had to get away. His eyes darted towards the door to the building before he took a few steps to try to get around the man standing in front of him. The man moved quickly and blocked his path.

“No. Not this time. I’m going to get what I’ve been waiting for,” he said harshly.

Louis shook his head and tried to move the other way but the man blocked him again. “I’ll…” Louis began but he had no idea how he was going to finish the sentence. “You’ll what?” the man laughed. “I don’t think you have any pepper spray hiding in your pockets tonight. What are you going to do? Try to run in there and get someone to help you? I don’t think so. I don’t suppose Payne wants you causing a scene and for everyone to find out that his guest is a whore.”

Louis flinched at the word. He wasn’t going to stand there and let this man intimidate him and talk to him like he was shit. He moved forward again, even more determined now to get away. He felt fingers grip his arm and pull him backwards sharply and as he turned around he saw that the man looked completely enraged. The calm façade was gone, replaced by an expression of pure fury.

“Don’t think you can walk away from me you fucking slut. I’ve waited too long for this and you aren’t going to get away from me this time,” he snarled.

Louis tried to wrench his arm from the man’s grip but he couldn’t manage to shake him off. “You can’t think that you’ll get away with this. Someone will see you. There’s a building full of police officers right there,” he said desperately.

The man laughed manically. “You’re right. But who’s going to believe _you_?” he pulled Louis closer as he spoke. His voice lowered to a gravelly whisper and his warm breath rushed across Louis’ face as he spoke, “Who would believe a filthy whore over a police officer?”

The words were like a physical blow to Louis. He felt his will to fight and get away begin to crumble. He wasn’t a hooker anymore but he had been. He didn’t stand a chance. Maybe he had been fooling himself that he could move on and be happy with Liam. Maybe his past was always going to haunt him. Maybe he just had to accept the way things were.

In the next moment, Louis found himself released. The death grip around his arm was removed, he had room to breath again, and the man was standing a few steps away from him looking completely casual like nothing had happened. At first Louis didn’t understand, but then he looked beyond the man and saw Liam walking through the garden towards them smiling brightly.

The man turned towards Louis and narrowed his eyes. The scowl on his face seemed to hold the promise that this wasn’t over, before he turned to begin walking back towards the building.

“Parker,” Liam nodded as his colleague approached him.

“Payne,” the man reflected the gesture. “I was just having a chat with your friend, sorry for keeping him so long.”

Liam smiled and waved the apology away, “No worries.” The other officer didn’t look back as he continued on his way back towards the ball.

Louis stared after him in shock. How could he change so suddenly from being a psychotic attacker to a friendly police officer?

“I was wondering where you’d got to,” Liam said as he walked up to Louis. He reached out and placed his hand gently on Louis’ arm but Louis jerked away from the touch. Liam’s face showed his shock at the reaction, then immediately revealed his concern. “Is everything alright Lou?” he asked, already knowing that something was obviously wrong.

“I want to go,” Louis replied quietly.

“I thought you were enjoying yourself,” Liam said in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Louis turned his eyes towards him and Liam was stunned by the coldest stare he’d ever received from his lover. “Nothing’s wrong. I need to go. If you don’t want to take me, I’ll get a taxi.”

For a moment, Liam didn’t respond. It was only when Louis walked around him that he was motivated into action. “Of course I’ll take you,” he said, still completely confused and feeling hurt by Louis’ attitude, but not willing to let him leave on his own.

The car journey from the ball to Liam’s house was torturous. Liam repeatedly tried to get Louis to speak to him but he received one word answers or silence in response. When they entered the house, Louis flew up the stairs leaving Liam staring after him, racking his brain trying to think what might be wrong. He couldn’t think what he had done that had caused Louis to be so cold towards him. He sighed heavily before following Louis up the stairs.

When Liam walked into their bedroom he was stunned to see Louis pulling his clothes out of the wardrobe and throwing them into his open bag on their bed.

“What the hell is going on?” Liam asked. It had come out a little louder than he planned but he was panicked at seeing Louis’ actions.

Louis didn’t respond, he just continued throwing his clothes across the room. Liam watched for a few more moments before deciding enough was enough. He strode across the room and grabbed Louis by the biceps and spun him round to face him. “What is going on?” he repeated, trying to stay calm.

Louis struggled against him. “Get off me!” he shouted. “Let me go! You’re all the fucking same!”

Liam had no idea what Louis was talking about but he wasn’t about to let Louis just disappear from his life which was clearly what he had in mind. “Louis, please listen to me. _Please_. I don’t understand. I don’t know what’s wrong but if you tell me I’ll help you.”

“You can’t fucking help me,” Louis was still shouting. “I’ve been so stupid. I’ve been so stupid to think that I could be happy, that I _deserved_ to be happy. I’ll always be a stupid, dirty, fucking _whore_.” On the last word, Louis’ voice cracked a little and he hung his head in shame.

Liam was still holding onto Louis’ upper arms as he listened to him put himself down. He felt his own heart aching at Louis’ scathing words. “You are not any of those things Louis,” he said forcefully. “You are amazing. Look at me,” he commanded, but Louis didn’t lift his head. “Look at me,” Liam repeated and slowly blue eyes rose to look at him. “You are amazing,” he said again, “You are everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I never want to hear you speak about yourself like that again because none of it is true and it breaks my heart. I love you, do you understand that? I _love_ you.”

Liam hadn’t seen Louis look so vulnerable and broken since he was attacked but somehow his words seemed to make Louis raise his head a little more. He threw himself against Liam’s chest and squeezed him tightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered against his shoulder. “I love you too. Whatever else I do, please don’t forget that I love you.”

Liam stroked his hair and closed his eyes in relief. For a few moments he had thought that he might lose Louis and it was almost too painful to bear.

They remained standing there in their bedroom for a long time before Liam gently pushed Louis away and held him at arm’s length. He looked into his eyes for a few moments before saying, “What happened tonight?”

Louis’ eyes dropped to the floor momentarily again as he sucked in a deep breath. It seemed to Liam that he was preparing himself for having to tell him something awful and he braced himself for what Louis was about to say.

Louis looked up at him and Liam was sure he’d never seen him look so serious or nervous. “That man that was talking to me when I went outside tonight…” Liam nodded that he knew who Louis was referring to. “He was the one…he was the one that attacked me.”

Liam’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Parker?” he asked in bewilderment, “But he’s a cop.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Louis immediately pulled away from Liam and stepped backwards. “You think I don’t know that!” he shouted. “You think I wasn’t completely freaked when he came up to me tonight and I realised who he was? I knew this would happen. _He_ knew this would happen. He said it. He said it out there tonight. He said that no-one would believe a filthy whore like me over an officer like him and he was right. Even _you_ don’t believe me!”

“Whoa!” Liam was immediately trying to calm Louis down, “I never said that I didn’t believe you Louis. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. You can’t just tell me something like that and expect me to say ‘okay then’. This is _huge_.”

Louis was breathing deeply as he looked at Liam, waiting for him to continue.

“You’d better start at the beginning of what happened when you went outside tonight,” Liam said and for the first time in a long time Louis saw him as a detective. Louis recounted his conversation with his attacker as clearly as he could and waited for Liam’s reaction.

Liam was very still and quiet for a while as he soaked up the information. “Fucking son of a bitch,” he eventually ground out. “That psycho has been doing this right under our noses all this time.”

Louis remained very quiet. Liam was clearly furious, the angriest that Louis had ever seen him, and he didn’t want to say anything that might make it worse. He fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt agitatedly. A hand came to rest against his cheek gently and he looked up to see Liam watching him thoughtfully. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through this tonight Lou,” Liam said softly.

Louis didn’t know how to reply so he stayed quiet. He just smiled weakly.

Liam sighed deeply, “You know that we can’t let him get away with this right?”

Louis nodded slowly, he was sure he knew what was coming next. “Will you come with me tomorrow to speak to my boss? You need to tell him everything.”

Louis looked at him steadily, “If I tell him everything that means telling him about us.”

Liam nodded, “I know. But I don’t care about that. He has to pay for what he’s done. Besides, I’ve already told you, I’m proud to be with you.”

Louis smiled slightly and nodded his agreement. Taking his hand and squeezing it gently, Liam tried to reassure him that it would be alright. He had no idea how things would go tomorrow but as long as they were together they would be fine.

***

The following day, Louis found himself sitting in Liam’s office alone. Liam had practically smuggled him into the station fearing that Louis’ attacker would see them and realise what was happening. Liam had kissed him on the cheek and left him there while he had gone to speak to his senior officer. Anyone walking into the office would have been able to tell that Louis was a nervous wreck; his knee was bobbing up and down repeatedly and he couldn’t stop fiddling. Every time he heard someone walk past the office he spun around in his chair, hoping it was Liam but each time he was left feeling more and more worried.

Eventually, the office door opened and Liam walked in. Immediately, Louis was desperately trying to interpret how the meeting had gone.

“The Chief Constable wants to speak to you in his office, on your own,” Liam said simply.

“What did you tell him?” Louis asked as he stood up from his seat.

“Just the basic outline of what’s happened. He wants to speak to you individually to get the full details. This is serious Lou. We’re accusing an officer of assaulting you, and as a result he’ll probably be charged with the attacks on all the other prostitutes, you have to be clear about what happened.”

Louis nodded sombrely. He _was_ clear about what happened; he didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget it.

Liam had escorted Louis to the office and then taken a seat outside. He wanted to be close-by in case he was needed. It was nearly an hour before a rather drained looking Louis opened the door and stepped out of the office. He sat down beside Liam and closed his eyes for a moment. Going over what had happened in such detail had been hard work. When he opened his eyes, Liam was looking at him fondly.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly.

Louis nodded, “Glad that’s over with.”

Liam smiled slightly but didn’t have time to say anything else as he heard his superior officer calling for him to go into the office. He took a deep breath and left Louis sitting alone again.

It wasn’t long before Liam reappeared and led Louis back to his own office.

“Well, what’s going on?” Louis asked anxiously.

“I couldn’t tell you in the corridor,” Liam said as he closed the door behind them. “They’ve sent officers to arrest Parker. They’re charging him with assaulting you and then hopefully once the evidence has been gathered together they want to get him for all the attacks. It should only take a DNA test to match him to all the victims,” Liam told him brightly.

Louis couldn’t help but smile at Liam’s victorious expression. It seemed a little odd to him that someone could be quite so pleased to be announcing that they had arrested someone, but he understood Liam’s passion for his work. He knew how much solving this case meant to him.

“You did it,” Liam told him. “You were brave enough to stand up for yourself and do the right thing. You’ve stopped one of the most prolific rapists we’ve had in this city for years. Maybe you should consider becoming a cop,” he joked.

Louis looked mildly disturbed by the suggestion, but still laughed. Finally hearing such good news seemed to have drained all of his stresses and concerns away.

***

A few months later, Louis and Liam were still living happily together. Any fears that they might have had about their relationship had been wiped away. Louis had worried about the repercussions for Liam’s job once it was revealed that he was living with an ex-hooker but there was no comeback. Louis was an _ex_ -hooker, he had nothing to hide and nothing to feel ashamed about anymore. Once he had feared that he would never be able to escape his past, he feared that it would haunt him forever but now he used it to make him a stronger, better person.

Louis was still looking for employment but while he searched he had taken on some volunteer work that Liam had heard about at the station. He was working for a homeless shelter distributing food and water to people living on the streets. Louis found it incredibly satisfying to help people that were in the same situation that he had been in years ago.

When Louis looked back over his life he could hardly believe the way it had turned out. From a happy child to a dejected teenager who ended up living on the streets and working as a hooker as an adult, he didn’t think anyone would believe how fortunate he had been. He often thought about the hand that fate had dealt him. Why had Liam picked him up that first night? How things would have been different if Liam had stopped further along the street. Louis always dismissed those thoughts from his mind quickly; he didn’t want to imagine his life without Liam. His life certainly hadn’t turned out the way he had expected but he had to admit that now it was better than he had ever hoped for.


End file.
